‘Long live the Keralites,’ writes Justice Katju in glowing Facebook post
Markandey Katju is known for his hard-hitting views on a wide range of subjects
Justice Markandey Katju’s Facebook posts are wildly popular (Express photo by Jaipal Singh)
Malayalis across the globe are rejoicing, thanks to Justice Markandey Katju. The former Press Council chairman, who is known for his hard-hitting views on a wide range of subjects, many of which eventually wound its way into controversies, focused his latest Facebook post on who ‘real Indians’ are. It isn’t the easiest topic to write on considering the present state of affairs in the country, but trust Justice Katju to sift through the layers to bring you the answer. So yes, according to him, the ‘real Indians’ are the proud people of Kerala. *cue aarppoo irro irro irro*
“India is broadly a country of immigrants, like North America, and that explains the tremendous diversity here—so many religions, castes, languages, ethnic and regional groups, etc. The ancestors of perhaps 95% people living in India today came from abroad ( the original inhabitants are the pre Dravidian tribals known as the Scheduled Tribes e.g. Bhils, Gonds, Santhals, Todas, etc ).. So to live united and in harmony we must respect every group of people. In my opinion the Keralites do this the best, and therefore they are symbolic and represent the whole of India. So they are the real Indians, and all of us must try to emulate them and imbibe their spirit,” Justice Katju writes on Facebook justifying his theory.
Justice Katju has clearly leaned into history lessons to substantiate his claim.
He calls Kerala a ‘microcosm of India’ and says its inherent quality has been its ‘openness to external influence.’ This is very much true considering it is now home to at least 3 million people from other Indian states, doing all kinds of odd jobs – jobs that Malayalis are reluctant to do.
Justice Katju also writes of the Malayali expatriate population – in Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain and most of the GCC countries where they outnumber the native population. Malayali expatriates are known to be one of the largest NRI groups sending crores of rupees as remittances back to the home state. So he is not wrong on that either.
“Keralites are great travellers, and everywhere in the globe one will find Keralites. There is a joke that when the American astronaut Neil Armstrong landed on the moon on 1969 he found a Keralite there offering to sell him tea,” he writes. Yes, Justice Katju has certainly had a whiff of the popular jokes as well. Photo-shopped images of the Keralite in mundu standing on the moon alongside his tea stall have been on the internet since ages.
“Keralites are hard working, modest, and intelligent. They are broad minded, liberal, cosmopolitan and secular in their views ( though no doubt there are a few exceptions ). All Indians must learn from them. Long live the Keralites !,” Justice Katju finishes off in what is clearly a long, glowing tribute to Malayalis.
The post has had massive engagement, with 16,000 shares, 27,000 likes and 1,600 comments. Clearly, the Malayalis on Facebook are sharing away.
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