On Monday morning Dr S Ramdoss, founder of the Vanniyar dominated Pattali Makkal Katchi, declared that Tamil Nadu has become unsafe for Hindus. But the political party which should have appreciated his stance chose to keep him at a safe distance.
The BJP made it known on Tuesday that the party does not subscribe to the views of the Vanniyar leader. “The politics practised by Ramdoss is divisive in nature. Politics should be for bringing people together. The PMK is struggling to regain its lost ground in Tamil Nadu politics and we do not subscribe to his views,” Ela Ganeshan, senior BJP leader, told The Pioneer.
In a double whammy to the PMK leader, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa announced in the Assembly during a calling attention motion that the Government would soon file cases against Ramdoss on a number of counts. “He was given permission to host the youth rally of the PMK at Mahabalipuram on certain terms and conditions to ensure law and order. But Ramdoss blatantly violated all norms and we will file cases against him and the PMK,” declared Jayalalithaa. The State Government also withdrew the police security given to Ramdoss following the recent riots.
CP Radhakrishnan, BJP leader and former State president, too expressed his reservations against any kind of alliance with Ramdoss. “For Ramdoss, politics begin and end with the Vanniyar community. For us, both the Dalits and Vanniyars are important constituents of the Hindu society. What we require right now in Tamil Nadu is a politics of unity where all people can live peacefully. But Ramdoss is subverting that possibility,” said Radhakrishnan.
In yet another related incident, the Archaeological Survey of India has complained to the Director General of Police that activists of the PMK damaged the seventh century AD Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram last Thursday during the party’s youth rally. Workers of the PMK trespassed into the shore temple, uprooted the fence, and hoisted party flags atop the Shore Temple.
The temple is designated as a World Heritage Site and a protected monument. The action of the PMK workers hoisting party flags atop the temple could even lead to the disenfranchisement of the party, said senior Government officials.
Ramdoss, on a mission to consolidate the Backward Communities in Tamil Nadu against the Dalits, has brought nearly 25 organisations representing various backward castes under a single umbrella in the hope that it would bring him rich dividends during the next lok Sabha elections. Because of his frequent fence jumping from one political front to the other, both the ruling AIADMK and the Opposition DMK are wary of associating with him. The PMK founder has an urgent mission to accomplish; to make Anbumani, his son a Rajya Sabha member. But the present line up in Tamil Nadu Assembly does not favour any possibility of Anbumani getting elected to the upper house.
The PMK is having a running battle with Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi (VCK), an outfit of Dalits. Interestingly, when the PMK was launched, it was declared by Ramdoss that it would represent the Vanniyars as well as the Dalits.
The PMK even nominated Dalit Ezhimalai, a Dalit, as its first ever Union Minister in the 1998 Government led by AB Vajpayee. Though the line of separation between the Vanniyars and the Dalits is thin, the PMK is trying to corner Dalits by bringing together intermediate castes like Vanniyars, Thevars, Gounders as a vote-bank. The PMl leader alleges Dalit youth for luring girls from the backward communities under the pretext of love and blackmail their parents for money. He even brought out a survey report to substantiate his claim that the Dalit youth are staging “love Drama” with girls of the backward communities.
But the leaders of the BJP and various Hindu outfits expressed their displeasure over the PMK move to isolate the Dalits. “The Dalits are Hindus like the Vanniyars and other castes. The PMK is doing a disservice to the Hindu society by trying to isolate them and the BJP will never be a party to such move,” said Radhakrishnan.
Meanwhile, Thol Thirumavalavan, the VCK leader, is meeting leaders of all other political outfits in Tamil Nadu to convince them about the “anti-Dalit” stance of Ramdoss and his party. He even thanked CM Jayalalithaa for taking a firm stand against the PMK for Thursday’s Mahabalipuram riots.