Rajinikanth, Tamil filmdom’s super star, has put both the AIADMK and the DMK in a fix with his statement about EV Ramasamy Naiker, founder of the Dravida movement in Tamil Nadu.
While addressing the Golden Jubilee meeting of Tamil magazine Tuglaq launched by late Cho Ramaswamy, Rajinikanth who is certain to launch his political outfit anytime from now, had said that Naicker with his followers had taken out a procession in Salem in 1971 with nude pictures of Lord Rama and his consort Sita ‘decorated’ with footwears. The rallyists had raised derogatory slogans against the revered couple, Rajinikanth had said,
“While all newspapers and magazines had blacked out the incident, it was Tuglaq which carried the report in detail with the picture of the rallyists. The then Karunanidhi Government had tried its best to prevent the magazine copies from reaching the hands of the readers. But Cho printed additional copies and saw to it that the magazine copies reached its readers,” Rajinikanth said in his reminiscences.
Rajinikanth’s declaration from the venue of Thuglaq’s function that it was the intelligentsia who read Thuglaq while DMK activists carry Murasoli (mouthpiece of the DMK) has upset the DMK leadership.
The DMK came out with a front page article stating that the readers of Murasoli were Dravida youths with self respect and courage. “Our readers are people who care about the suppressed and depressed people in the society and they are not slaves to any ideology,” the Murasoli stated in an indirect reply to Rajinikanth’s declaration that those who read Thuglaq were intelligentsia while the readers of Murasoli were cadre of Dravisian party.
“Rajinikanth has succeeded in opening a new battlefront as well as political narrative in the State politics,” said Kolahala Srenivaas, political commentator.
Nehrudoss, a DK leader , has approached Coimbatore Police with a plea to file a complaint against the actor for spreading hatred against people. Nehrudoss alleged that Rajinikanth was peddling lies.
But Thuglaq Ramesh, lead writer of the magazine who has worked with Cho Ramaswamy from the day the Thuglaq was launched said there was no lies in the speech by Rajnikanth though there was a factual error. “Naicker and his associates had carried nude pictures of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu to denigrate the birth of Lord Ayyappa. The big size photograph was adored with footwears and we have preserved the copies in our office. What Rajinikanth told is correct though the characters differed,” Ramesh told The Pioneer.
He said the action of Naicker and his associates were nothing surprising as they had hatred for Hindu gods whom they disgraced and insulted at all available opportunities.
Though he was present during the 75th anniversary of Murasoli in 2018, the superstar did not make any speeches despite the pleads by Stalin.