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Journalism of Courage
V P SINGH may now largely be confined only to history books in the Hindi heartland, where he did most of his politics, but far, far away in Tamil Nadu, the man who came to be called the Mandal Messiah will soon have to his name a life-sized statue.
In a move that kills several birds with one stone, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin announced Thursday that his government would be setting up such a statue in Chennai to honour Singh and express “gratitude” on behalf of the Tamil society. Apart from a boost to Stalin’s attempts at building a national platform around social justice, with him as the prime driving force, the move sheds light on a little-known fact: about Singh’s association with the DMK.
Listing Singh’s contributions as he announced the statue, Stalin said: “One of the recommendations of the B P Mandal Commission was to provide 27% for OBCs, and it was V P Singh who implemented the report. On the Cauvery issue, which is the lifeline of the people of Tamil Nadu, V P Singh helped constitute the Cauvery tribunal.”
Soon after the announcement, Singh’s granddaughters Adrija Manjari and Richa Manjari took to social media to thank the CM.
Having come to power at the head of a Janata Dal government with disparate constituents, and backed by the BJP from outside, Singh had taken a big risk in August 1990 by pushing through the Mandal Commission report on reservations for OBCs, which had been pending since the 1970s.
As he faced opposition from all sides, particularly upper caste groups (Singh was himself a Thakur) and own allies, as well as angry protesters on the streets, Singh found a steadfast ally in the DMK, then led by M Karunanidhi. The DMK was an ally in the Janata Dal government, with its leader Murasoli Maran a Union Cabinet minister and the face of the party in Delhi.
Even after Singh’s government fell in November 1990, pulled apart by its contradictions as well as growing differences with the BJP over its Ram temple agitation, he continued to enjoy warm relations with the DMK.
Singh also had in the party a ready comrade for his Mandal project. Having sprung out of the social justice movement led by Periyar, Dravidian parties had long opened the doors for leaders from backward classes and groups to rise to the top. This meant that Tamil Nadu was probably one state where the setting up of the Mandal Commission had received wholehearted welcome. The panel, incidentally, included Subramaniam, a member of the OBC fishermen community in Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu had consequently witnessed protests and rallies demanding the release of the Mandal Commission report, which had attracted social justice leaders from across the country.
After the fall of the V P Singh government following loss of vote of confidence, Karunanidhi-led DMK and Dravidar Kazhagam (DK, the precursor to DMK) organised a series of public meetings over four days between Chennai and Kanyakumari in support of implementation of the Mandal Commission.
Singh was a prominent presence at these rallies, his English speeches translated for the general public by Maran. The events were widely covered by the Tamil media.
One of the men who covered the speeches extensively – almost verbatim — was Viduthalai Rajendran, a DK veteran leader and the man behind the party mouthpiece ‘Viduthalai’. Rajendran is believed to have suggested to Stalin in December 2022 that a statue be built for Singh.
Stalin has been seeking out like-minded anti-BJP parties to set up a social justice platform, with one such meeting held in hybrid mode seeing representatives from more than a dozen parties.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Rajendran says: “In his speeches, Singh would say, ‘Delhi may be the capital of India, but Tamil Nadu is the capital of social justice’. He would also explain in simple terms why reservation for OBCs was brought in. He argued in almost all his speeches that the South fared better than northern states, attributing the same to social justice measures and policies. He argued that equal distribution of power was what he aimed for through the 27% reservation for OBCs. He asserted that he was proud to have lost his government for standing for the cause of social justice.”
Over the four days of rallies, Singh and Karunanidhi travelled in a convoy to different parts of the state, with local top Tamil politicians joining in. “Vaiko joined the rally in Tirunelveli. K Veeramani, the chief of DK, was hospitalised then, so Singh met him in hospital before he started his journey,” says Rajendran, adding that the meetings were hugely successful. “In Madurai, thousands waited for Singh’s convoy past midnight. The meeting in Virudhunagar was held at 2 am!”
The DK veteran remembers one story in particular that V P Singh was fond of recounting, to explain the need for reservation, despite the arguments against it. “He talked of a family that divided its property between two siblings. The younger brother was given the responsibility of feeding a cow, and the elder brother the right to milk it. One day, the younger brother, tired of feeding the cattle for no return, shook the cow’s horns in frustration. The agitated cow kicked the elder brother who was milking it. The elder brother then complained about the injustice he faced. This simple tale helped illuminate the concept of social justice and the importance of reservation for marginalised communities.”
