7 min readNew DelhiJan 13, 2023 09:29 AM IST
First published on: Jan 11, 2023 at 06:26 PM IST
The BJP in recent times has been on a charm offensive to win over Tamils, who, like their neighbour, the Malayalis, have by and large refused to accept the unitarian Hindutva project. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to endear himself to Tamils with sartorial and literary tokenisms such as spouting Sangam poetry before the diaspora and at international forums or wearing a veshti in local meetings and rallies.
A curious, though audacious, attempt at outreach was the month-long Kashi Tamil Sangamam in November last year, which sought to emphasise religious and cultural ties between northern India and the Tamil country. During the festivities, heads of mutts and atheenams were brought to Varanasi and memories of Tamil scholars who had lived in the holy city in the past were revived. The Sangamam was an attempt to relate to the Hindu Tamil society, as the BJP imagines it to be, and offer a counter-narrative to the Dravidian ideology that has over half a century shaped the social and political preferences within Tamil Nadu. While the Dravidian model is a secular, egalitarian political project with a commitment to social justice, initiatives such as the Sangamam extol Brahminical Hinduism as a binding glue for the society. In parallel, the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit has been painstakingly trying to engage with local Hindu traditions, including subaltern worship practices, to project itself as a party of Tamil Hindus and to shed the perception that it is a party of north India that wants to promote Hindi and the caste order. It is this layered but cunning political outreach that stands exposed in the wake of Governor R N Ravi’s conduct in the Tamil Nadu assembly on Monday.
The office of the governor is a constitutional office: The governor is the representative of the President. However, because the political biases of the Union government reflect in the choice of the governor, the latter is seen as the representative of the Centre and always working to further its interests. Governor Ravi is identified today with the BJP and his actions are perceived to be at the behest of the party. In short, his actions as TN governor are likely to have a bearing on the BJP’s future in the state. Early signs suggest that he may turn out to be a wrecking ball that might end up demolishing the political scaffold the party has erected in the state. Ravi’s statements and conduct betray unease with the foundational values of Tamil Nadu, a state where a consensus exists on social justice and state-provided welfare. They also find an echo in the state BJP unit, which has so far defended him.
On Monday, at the beginning of a new session of the legislative assembly, Ravi omitted a few paragraphs from the address prepared by the state government for the governor to deliver. The address, though delivered by the governor, is meant to be a vision/policy document of the state government. A key portion he left out from the speech was: “This government is founded on the ideals of social justice, self-respect, inclusive growth, equality, women empowerment, secularism and compassion towards all. Following the principles and ideals of stalwarts like Thanthai Periyar, Annal Ambedkar, Perunthalaivar Kamarajar, Perarignar Anna and Muthamizh Arignar Kalaignar, this government has been delivering the much-acclaimed Dravidian model of governance to its people.” He also, reportedly, skipped all references to the Dravidian model in the address. When Chief Minister M K Stalin moved a resolution that the full address in Tamil be made part of the House records, the governor walked out. Despite all the controversy around his action, he has not clarified why he opted to leave out the references to the Dravidian model or the Tamil icons.
A remark Governor Ravi made at a function at the Raj Bhawan on January 4 offers a window into his thinking. He said: “Here in Tamil Nadu, a different kind of narrative has been created. Everything applicable for the whole of the country, Tamil Nadu will say no. It has become a habit. So many theses have been written — all false and poor fiction. This must be broken. Truth must prevail. Tamizhagam is a more appropriate word to call it. The rest of the country suffered a lot of devastation at the hands of foreigners for a long time.” What is this “different kind of narrative”? What is untrue about it? Is the Dravidian model the false narrative he seems agitated about? And why Tamizhagam instead of Tamil Nadu?
Ravi’s remarks are not just ahistorical but deeply troubling. Tamizhagam is the ancient name for a geographical region, which roughly extends from the Tirupati hills to the Indian Ocean in the south and includes today’s Tamil Nadu, Kerala, parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It refers to a region, where ancient Tamil was spoken before modern-day southern languages including Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and others evolved as distinct languages. The name Tamil Nadu emerged from the linguistic subnationalism that framed the political imaginary of the Dravidian Movement, which also demanded an independent Dravida Nadu before Independence. The renaming of Madras state as Tamil Nadu was a political demand, that the DMK espoused and implemented after it won office in 1967. It is the apt term considering that states had been reorganised on linguistic lines and Madras was the name of a colonial city.
The Dravidian Movement and its party offshoots buried the secessionist claim long ago and invested in the idea of a federal India. However, Tamil subnationalism tends to come alive whenever the Centre seeks to impose unitarian agendas on the state, be it the imposition of Hindi language or any policy that is perceived to work against the interests of the people of Tamil Nadu. Tamil subnationalism also speaks up for a transnational Tamil nation, which is merely a linguistic nation that includes Tamil speakers in Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, South Africa and so on. This is why the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils finds resonance in Tamil Nadu. Parties uncomfortable with the idea of a federal India also tend to get anxious about sub-nationalist impulses. And, political opposition to unitarian projects also gets articulated as federal concerns, with the local language, culture, territory, etc. becoming a point of pride, self-respect and resistance. Since 2014, this tendency seems to be gaining ground, especially in the southern states.
Ravi, a career police officer who had a long stint in the Intelligence Bureau, served as governor in Nagaland negotiating the peace accord with the NSCN-IM before he was shifted to Tamil Nadu. He ought to realise that the logic of governance in Tamil Nadu is rooted in a vibrant democratic public culture with a deep sense of identity and agency. The BJP will not be helping itself by endorsing Ravi.
amrith.lal@expressindia.com
Amrith Lal writes: Ravi's remarks are not just ahistorical but deeply troubling. (Illustration: CR Sasikumar) 
Share
