CURRENT TRENDS AND DISCOURSES ON THE QUESTION OF TAMIL
NATIONALISM
Solomon Victus
Introduction: Identity based politics, especially on the issue of language, is gaining importance in India in our modern capitalist technocratic context. It is an issue which has swung back again and again from the time of controversial debates which took place between the Dravidian Indus Valley civilization and the entry of the Aryan race. Dravidian cultural debates in Tamil Nadu have been an issue since Congress rule in Madras Presidency under Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) in the 1930s. There were many vibrant discussions reverberating in the minds of the politically active people of Tamil Nadu on the question of Tamil nationalism. I would like to start this paper with a question: how far is the question of Tamil nationalism viable and relevant today in a context of vibrant globalisation process? The Tamil Nadu DMK chief minister, M.K. Stalin, started officially using the term ‘Union Government’ instead of ‘Central Government’ in 2022 because for him India is constitutionally a newly organized state from the union of nationalities.
Although ‘union of states’ is the right usage of the term as mentioned in the Indian Constitution, this new usage has provoked most of the BJP followers who allege that the DMK is encouraging secessionism from the Indian Union. Since then the new phrase, ‘Union Government’ has become a popular term among the Tamil people, consciously using it everywhere. Nevertheless, in the name of Tamil nationalism the people in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka are fragmented in understanding state autonomy and genuine federalism. Here in this paper I will try to summarize the history of Tamil nationalism and the current debates in Tamil Nadu.
History of Tamil Nationalism: The spirit of ethnic nationalities, including Tamil, did not die out as was the case of a few other states with the formation of India as a nation. There was a proposal for language-wise state divisions immediately after the partition of the subcontinent, but Prime Minister Nehru was not in favour of new turmoil and refused to do that. Then Rajagobalachari (Rajaji) threatened that he would resign from Congress if Tamil Nadu was not able to get language-based state. Finally Nehru yielded to the pressure. Although the name Tamil Nadu had been mentioned in several classic Tamil literatures, it was politically brought into the frontline in the modern period by Si. Ba. Adithanar, the founder of the Tamil daily called Thina Thanthi (Daily Telegram). He had a political party in 1958 called ‘Naam Thamilar’ (We Tamils) and it was followed by Ma. Po. Sivagnanam, a Tamil scholar who had a movement called, Thamil Arasu Kazhagam (Tamil Government Party). When E.V.K. Sambath left the DMK, he formed a party called the Tamil Nationalism Party in 1961, which attracted persons like Pazha Nedumaran, etc. Maraimalai Adigal was the first scholar to initiate a momentum to purify Tamil words in daily usage by removing the mixture with other non-Tamil words. Thus Tamil nationalism as an issue slowly came out openly in the early 50s out of a series of attempts.
Eventually it was taken over by Dravidian parties imagining a broader Dravidian nationality. The question is: why there were and are so often occasional eruptions of language and nationality issues in Tamil Nadu. No other Indian state is more serious about the language question than Tamil Nadu.
E.V.R. Periyar, a man who belonged to a rich Telugu landlord family background, withdrew from active National Congress Party politics and joined the Justice Party in Tamil Nadu, trying to agitate against north Indian domination over the south. He was demanding separate Dravidian nationality by burning a copy of the Indian Constitution which again indirectly allows north Indian domination. He was totally against the concept of Indian nationalism, and to him Indian Independence Day was a black day. He did not have love for any languages in general, including Tamil, but was concerned only about humanity and Dravidian nationality. Eventually his ideology led him to form a new movement, Dravida Kazhagam (DK). With the formation of the DK, he was very particular in preserving the sovereignty of the southern Dravidian ethnic people over against northern domination. Social justice and Dravidian ethnic justice were the primary slogans of the DK. His main struggle was particularly against discrimination based on caste, the imposition of Hindi and the irrationality of Hindu religious practices, etc. Caldwell’s comparative studies of Dravidian languages and Rabindranath Tagore’s national anthem became key basic arguments for the Dravidian claims.
C.N. Annadurai, a staunch follower of E.V.R. Periyar and his ideology, left the DK movement in 1949 and decided to work under the framework of the Indian Constitution. He started a political wing of the Dravidian movement and named it Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) with the slogan ‘We will attain a Dravidian nation: if not we will attain the cremation ground’. In a later period, all the DMK leaders of Tamil Nadu realised that it was politically impossible to get a separate Tamil Nation under the Indian constitutional arrangements, and so they made a compromise and came to the conclusion ‘joint rule in the Centre and self-rule in the State’. DMK leaders and party cadres became very popular during the struggle against imposition of Hindi by the Congress government in Tamil Nadu. The event of a 77-day fast unto death by Sankaralinganar in 1956 really fastened the decision to change the name ‘Madras Presidency’ into ‘Tamil Nadu’. In 1961 Baktavatchalam as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu initiated efforts to change the name to Tamil Nadu from Madras Presidency, and it was decided to call Madras State ‘Tamil Nadu’ in Tamil and ‘Government of Madras’ in English.
There was a discussion in 1967 whether to use the term Tamil or Thamil. C.N. Annadurai made a compromise and accepted the nomenclature ‘Tamil’ for the sake of the English-speaking world in 1967, and also passed a resolution in state legislative bodies to change the name into Tamil Nadu which was formally ratified by the Union Government. In the course of time Annadurai gave up the issue of the separate Dravida Nadu claim since the Union Government of the period was almost about to ban the DMK movement under the pretext of secessionism. Although Periyar was not much interested in language issues and cultural activities, his disciples like Annadurai and Karunanithi played an active role with those issues. M. Karunanithi, a strong associate of Annadurai, later accepted a fair norm of the Dravidian line argument: ‘We are Tamils by language, Dravidians by ethnicity, and Indians by nationality’, but this position has been rejected today by many hard-core Tamil nationalists. Since Karunanithi had taken up the position of accepting Indian nationality, the DMK has almost totally abandoned the issue of Tamil Nationalism. Since Karunanithi had a well-built Tamil nationalistic priority, he was hesitant to provide a national level leadership though opportunities came to him. During the active Dravidian politics a new split took place within that was called ‘All India Anna DMK (AIADMK)’ under the leadership of M.G. Ramachandren (MGR). The Malayali MGR and Kannadiga Jayalalitha were able to capture control of the Tamil Nadu government due to their influence in the Tamil film industry. The issue of Tamil nationalism was revived and fanned again during the rule of the AIADMK-BJP alliance period in Tamil Nadu. The feeling of Tamilians burst out especially on the denial of conducting bull fights in Tamil Nadu as the right of the Tamil ancient culture. Lakhs and lakhs of youngsters gathered at Marina beach, Chennai and held peaceful demonstrations in 2017.
However, after the arrival of the BJP and their conscious promotion of north Indian interests in Tamil Nadu, a feeling of Tamil nationalism naturally became aggravated again. Thus during many consecutive years of DK, DMK, and AIADMK they slowly lost the vigour on the Tamil nationality question.
Sway of Sri Lankan Ethnic Struggle: Sri Lanka was already flooded with many Tamil nationalist groups that have been actively fighting for the cause of separate Tamil Eelam since the 1970s for the reason that the northern parts are totally neglected by chauvinistic Singala political rulers. Prabhaharan emerged as a potential Tamil national leader among many Tamil groups who were against Singala majoritarianism. He had been a constant inspiration for all Tamil nationalist groups among global Tamils. Prabhaharan had been a great icon in the eyes of middle-aged people in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. During the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka nearly 30 thousand children were killed and women were raped, and so most of the youngsters voluntarily joined the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) team. He had been looked up to as a highly disciplined militant personality who was able to foresee the emergence of independent Tamil nationalism and was able realise it partially in some regions of Vavuniya and Kilinochi in Sri Lanka. The LTTE movement was upset after the treacherous murder of the acclaimed leader of the Sri Lankan Tamils, Velupillai Prabhaharan, by the Sri Lankan army. V. Prabhaharan’s end is compared today with that of Subhas Chandra Bose to some extent, and many of their followers still believe that their leaders are still alive having escaped somewhere and will suddenly appear back to society one day.
In the meantime some international countries have understood the genuineness of the human rights struggles of Tamils in Sri Lanka and the genocide attempts of the Sri Lankan government and had lifted the ban on LTTE. The United Nations Organisation had made an attempt to carry out a public enquiry about the genocide, but due to non-cooperation of the Sri Lankan government the issue is still pending.
Post-Prabhaharan Scenario: The LTTE had been a challenging inspiration to Sri Lankan Tamils and people in Tamil Nadu since the late 1970s. The whole politics of Tamil nationalism in Tamil Nadu centres on the leaders who speak such matters as their personal connection with V. Prabhaharan and the Tamil Eelam movement. Tamil Nadu was awakened by the speeches of Nedumaran and Vaiko (Vai Kopalchamy) and others which further enlightened the people in Tamil Nadu about Tamil nationalism issues soon after the ‘genocide’ of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Almost all parties in Tamil Nadu were supporting the Tamil Eelam issue since it was the only movement able to achieve credibility from the local Tamil people of Sri Lanka as well as the attention of the international community. At one point in time, even Rajiv Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, was willing to help them in attaining a separate Tamil Eelam. Thamilarasan was a young person in Tamil Nadu influenced by the Tamil Eelam struggles led by Velupillai Prabhaharan in Sri Lanka and the Naxalite movements led by Charu Mazumdar in West Bengal. He started speaking intensely about Tamil nationalism in the 1980s, and his activity was felt vibrantly in five northern districts of Tamil Nadu. Although he came from the background of the Vanniar community, he had the courage to identify with the issues of Dalits and tribals (ST and SC), especially in fighting against the local feudal landlords and exploitative bureaucrats. He organized several landless peasants and agricultural coolies’ struggles in fighting landlords, bureaucracy, state and political parties. He was seriously talking about the inter-state water politics of the Cauvery River. He kept on demanding independence of nationalities in south India, for fair Cauvery River water sharing, and simultaneously opposing internationalism.
Encouraged by the anti-feudal struggles led by the Peoples War Group (PWG) of Telangana region, his team also became involved in the arms struggle against casteism, feudalism, landlordism, and large-scale capitalist investments. All those groups which took arms had a common understanding in achieving local nationalism by extending mutual support. Many landlords left their local places over the new menace initiated by him. To meet the financial requirements of their underground activities they indulged in bank robberies too. Thamilarasan was representing almost like V. Prabhaharan in Tamil Nadu. K.M. Veerappan, a bandit in Tamil Nadu who turned into a domestic terrorist was active for 36 years in the wilderness and kidnapped major politicians for ransom. He was charged with sandalwood smuggling and poaching of elephants in the scrublands and forests in the States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. As a contemporary of Thamilarasan, he co-opted the issue of Tamil Nationalism in his list of demands to the state government. At the intellectual level of theoreticians like Gunasekaran, Kolathur Mani took over the issue of Tamil nationalism in South India, demanding a status of separate Tamil Union Territories to regions like Vengalore, Kolar Gold Fields, Kudagumalai, Munnar, etc., based on the argument that 60% of the people living in those areas of neighbouring states are Tamils. These intellectuals also believed that by attaining the status of Union Territory for those places mentioned above they could resolve the impending issue of the Cauvery dispute in Tamil Nadu.
Political attacks on Tamils in Sri Lanka, Karnataka, Mumbai (Dharavi), Andhra Pradesh, for various causes had also created an insecure situation of Tamils in India, helping the arguments of sons of the soil in Tamil Nadu. In the course of those political struggles Thamilarasan and Muthukumar sacrificed their lives by committing suicide for the cause of Tamil nationalism. The Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu made use of the feeling of Tamil nationalism among the youngsters and consolidated their votes by speaking for Tamil Eelam. At one point in time, the day November 1 was officially declared as Tamil Nadu Day (now it is 18 July). In many places in Tamil Nadu independent Thai Thamil Pallies (Mother Tamil Schools) were started by a team of Tamil nationalists to encourage pure Tamil language practice at primary education level since 1990s. Muhil Sivakumaran, one of Veerappan’s former associates, who initially worked along with Seeman and came out of the Seeman’s team later, is of the opinion that the young generations of Tamilians in Tamil Nadu are so passionate about Prabhaharan because they are fed up with the Dravidian rules in Tamil Nadu as there are no alternative political parties to Dravidian parties, and so the youngsters are attracted to Prabhaharan’s dream of Tamil Eelam as well as Tamil nationalism.
Seeman started Nam Thamilar Katchi (NTK -We Tamils Party) basically a state level political party in 2009 with a primary objective of Tamil nationalism. NTK had triggered the question, who the Dravidians and Tamilians are. He claims that ‘we are Tamils by language, race and nationality’ and thus he takes an opposite position of Annadurai and Karunanithi. Although he came through the ideological paths of DK and DMK memberships, he restarted the party NTK by picking up from the name earlier used by Adithanar. The party is basically formed with a combination of followers of V. Prabhaharan and fans of Seeman. Currently NTK is followed by nearly thirty lakh people mostly drawing from youngsters with a passion carried away by emotional sentiments. Many of them are currently incorporating ecological issues as part of the activities of NTK, especially vocal against export of sand and black metal and involved in planting Palmyra trees wherever empty space is available.
One of the major drawbacks of Seeman’s policies is that he is too idealistic in his political approach, especially his belief in overnight radical changes with an authoritative rule which are very appealing to the youngsters. Another drawback is about next level democratic leadership issue; it is still vague and ambiguous over the plausibility of his team working along with Indian federal system. In the name of opposing Dravidian rules in Tamil Nadu, particularly DMK, Seeman falls on the side of Hindu nationalism indirectly. One of the strong critiques on the political approach of Seeman is, what would be the consequence of anti-Dravidian political position in Tamil Nadu if we go on with the ideals of Tamil nationalism. The significant question is how far it is possible to set aside easily all the achievements made by Dravidian parties in the path of social justice overnight? Who would be benefitted if the Dravidian parties are thrown away in Tamil Nadu? Will the NTK be able to replace the void created in Tamil Nadu by its lean with right wing parties including BJP? Finally, many more questions arise about his financial flow and life-style which is seen as that it is very upper-class oriented.
Personalities like Seeman and Prof. Maniyarasan hold similar views that all those who speak Tamil language, including Brahmins, for one or two generations could be treated as Tamils. They are seriously demanding the state for exclusion and expulsion of non-Tamils, especially Hindi-speaking people from Tamil Nadu. And so persons with ‘pure’ Tamil origin are to be permitted to rule the land. During the AIADMK regime, especially after the death of Jayalalitha, there was a decision that the state would allow all the job seekers to write Public Service Commission Exams (TNPSC) with a provision that Tamil language is no more a requirement to appear for the exams. This paved for way for easy entry of other state people in the administration mainly due to corruption practices existing at the top level of the political parties and bureaucracy. However, Seeman has been sympathetic with AIADMK and Brahmin leadership while opposing Dravidian ideology, and so his credibility on Tamil nationalism is under fire frequently. He is reiterating the tone ‘sons of the soil’ need to rule the state and depicts that except K. Kamarajar, and Edapadi Palanisamy rest of the chief ministers like Baktavasalam, C.N. Annadurai, M. Karunanithi, M.G. Ramachandren, J. Jayalalita, M.K. Stalin belong to non-Tamil origin. At one point of time Seeman had asked all Tamils to come back to ‘mother religion’, speaking for the cult of Murugan, and Maaliyam.
For Maniyarasan, the primary objective of Tamil Nationalism is redemption of sovereignty of the Tamil nation, fighting for land and language rights and fighting against Aryan as well as Brahmin-Vaisiya dominance and monopolist national parties. For him, India is not at all one nation, and so Hindi cannot be the national language. Rejection of Sanskrit usage in Tamil worship in Tamil Nadu temples also is one of the demands. At the moment the education system has gone from the State list to the Union list, and he feels that the sovereignty of Tamil Nadu is disappearing away.
Persons like Pazha Nedumaran, Trichy Veluchamy, Thirumurugan Gandhi were strong supporters of Tamil Nationalism ideology in Sri Lanka as well as in Tamil Nadu. Now they currently argue that the murder case of Rajiv was a result of a mysterious international conspiracy, and it has nothing to do with LTTE. For them, many groups including late Chandrasamy, a politically active religious guru, and some important personalities were opposing Rajiv Gandhi’s economic policies, and so along with some secret service officials had organised the conspiracy ring. Pazha Nedumaran holds the view that majority nationalists like Tamils in Tamil Nadu must patronise minority nationalities because those people like Telugus and Sourastrians had been living in Tamil Nadu and contributing to the state for centuries. It is not fair to plan sending them out with an exclusive attitude. He argues that early Tamil poets and pundits were involved in producing classic literature with a global perspective. And therefore Tamil nationalism must have a broader perspective. And he maintains that Tamil nationalism could survive in the long run only if it is inclusive in nature. We cannot exclude people in the name of religion because religion can never be the criteria for nationalities, but only language.
Labour issues: Labour scarcity in Tamil Nadu has been a serious issue in recent decades for hard work like agriculture, construction industry, restaurants, brick kilns, menial jobs like septic waste clearance, etc., and so it has become an economic necessity to bring labourers from outside. The situation is so bad that no industry, either formal or informal, could survive in Tamil Nadu today without northern workers. As usual, the new labour force is willing to accept cheaper wages, long hours of work and less holidays as long as the local Tamil labour force is scarce.
Since trade union activities are strictly forbidden in the name of neo-liberal industrial policy and industrial peace there is no space for bargaining for their own wages and welfare. Compared with the northern migrant workers, Tamil labourers prefer more decent jobs and demand higher wages and other welfare measures with the employers, and so the employers prefer to bring in non-demanding labourers to their industries. The employers haven’t understood that one day the migrants will have firm demands to make once the local competition is totally removed. In the meantime the state experiences huge inflows of north Indians to Tamil Nadu. New recruits of higher-level officials, especially from the Union Government, also control banks, postal services and railways and try to speak in Hindi with the local Tamil customers. Almost a majority of the postal trainees are from north India. Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) (a central public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Coal, GOI) has recently recruited 300 engineers and among them only a few people are Tamils. Out of 8 crores of the Tamil Nadu population it is said 8% of the people are non-Tamils (nearly 60 lakhs of people). For example, Sougarpettei area in Chennai is now fully under the control of Marwaris, and no local person is able to run a business or buy land for local Tamils.
As long as no local person is in the queue for employment, Tamil nationalism is not an issue. The crisis becomes very sensitive when skilled people are locally unemployed and outsiders are appointed who know neither Tamil nor English language. Recently, one of the TATA group industries in Hosur attracted one full train of labourers from north India, while many of the local qualified Tamils are jobless. This event created a hue and cry among the locals in Tamil Nadu. These northern workers are almost like bonded labourers in the hands of south Indian agents or middlemen who keep all of their basic documents of identity, controlling them with their commission demands. The northern workers themselves have no intention to vote for a political party, but the Hindutva party and its allies are keen to make use of them for their votes. The migrants are generally understood by the locals that they are not only robbing their jobs, but also are casting their votes in favour of anti-Dravidian parties. In many places the illegal sale of drugs, murder, thefts, and violent attacks on Tamils are also witnessed. Anger of the locals is fanned by the political parties which profit out of these immigrants. Most of the hard-core Tamils are worried and it is almost seen as if Hindu nationalism is taking over Tamil nationalism. Moreover, Tamils have felt that the rights of Tamils are slowly and silently robbed away by the Union Government and that many job opportunities, including their government jobs, are offered to the non-Tamils. The BJP is planning to make use of the Tamil nationalist sentiments for their political gains with the help of a communal riot (divide and rule as in Manipur).
Moreover, we need to see the emerging issue seriously from the northern labourers’ point of view. Most of the labourers have no independent access to the employers in South India except through Tamil middlemen or agents. These middlemen bring them here with their identity cards like Aadhaar and control these identity cards in their hands, and are also able to collect commissions from the employers for bringing cheap labourers who are willing to take cheap wages with long working hours. It can be said that it is an unchecked or uncontrolled migration because the state machinery did not take data of this immigration or details of their arrival and departure. Moreover the regional recruitment method is suddenly disappearing from the Union government with the help of advertisements in Hindi. Unauthorized instructions were given from the Union Government to recruit the majority from Hindi belts, and many years back there were protests by Marxist Communist Party members against bringing Hindi people for BHEL in Ranipet, Vellore district.
The anger of Tamils has some valid reasons and their reaction is perhaps unjustifiable. Fundamentally, the Tamils must realise that they themselves were migrants in different states and countries and suffered a lot, although they were sincerely contributing to the local places. There are so many cases we can cite in the past and present. What is hidden in this process is the reality of many northern workers who have already undergone a situation of penury without any jobs and are willing to accept any labour conditions. Instead of asking why they have come here we must know how they are forced to opt for cheap labour. The Tamils need to know what the real issue is behind this. There are rich Marwaris who capture the investment of the Tamils and control the means of production like land, labour and capital and expand their business. Whereas these labourers who come for survival from all directions are willing to take the hard and menial jobs in Tamil Nadu that local Tamil labourers do not wish to do. If the Tamils fail to distinguish the labouring sector from the capital investment sectors, the anger of Tamils will have bad consequences on the future economy and on helping communal forces. What is necessary is to have worker-worker solidarity in sharing the job opportunities as well as in gaining bargaining power with the employers. What is required is that the state and the investors must have a clear policy on the basis on which the job is given to outsiders, specifications on minimum wages, maximum working hours, and data about their family details.
Tamil philosophy, religion and spirituality: The question of Tamil religion, philosophy and spirituality is consciously rediscovered and developed by Professor K. Nedunchilizian and some of the intellectuals who are connected with Tamil nationalism. They reject outright so-called Hindu epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata, and only accept the writings of Alwars and Nayanmars, etc. They strongly believe that originally worship was done in Tamil Nadu based on the Saivite tradition using Tamil language. For K. Nedunchilizian, the religion is not for worship but for understanding Tamil spirituality and social transformation. Here, God is not the central figure of the religion, and so theists and atheists are easily acceptable in this discussion. It is a theology without religion and it sounds like secular spirituality. Vadaloor Ramalinga Adigalar, who is fondly called Vallalar, is claimed to be pioneer in this field, and he was the one who gave a form to such spirituality. To him, light is the centre of spirituality and he named it Samarasa Suddha Sanmarkam (Pure Harmonious Way). He endorsed only vegetarianism. It has been considered a counter religion against rituals and traditions of the Vedic Hinduism.
Thirumurugan Gandhi is of the view that we cannot talk of Tamil nationalism by ignoring Velupillai Prabhaharan and E.V.R. Periyar. According to Thirumurugan Gandhi, the leader of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Thol Thirumavalavan takes a position of leftist Tamil nationalism since he accommodates B.R. Ambedkar, V. Prabhaharan and E.V.R. Periyar fairly. Having seen through the recent perception on Tamil nationalism and its strategies Thol Thirumavalavan has come to the conclusion that Tamil nationalism is no more a realizable project based on language identity politics in Tamil Nadu. He is for a broader secular national unity rather than limiting issues in language in Tamil Nadu. Founder of Tamil Nadu Green Party (Pasumai Thamilagam), S.P. Udayakumar takes a balanced position on those pioneering personalities along with serious ecological issues and sustainable development. All of them look sympathetically at the issue of new migrants from northern India but they are looking for a political guarantee from the state giving priority to the local workers.
Parisalan, a strong proponent of the Tamil nationalism of Seeman, is of the opinion that B.R. Ambedkar cannot be helpful to ethnic nationalities, but only to Indian nationalism. For him Ambedkar was the one who strongly denied the Aryan invasion and was in favour of Indian nationalism, and therefore Ambedkar cannot be helpful for Tamil nationalism. In the same tone Parisalan is opposing E.V.R. Periyar’s legacy for he was a strong critic of the Tamil language.
Does the Tamil Nationalism emphasise an extended Tamil Nadu, or sovereignty of the Tamils within the federal context of India? Although some of the extreme nationalists make various claims like ancient Raja Raja Cholan’s territory, some claim up to Andhra Pradesh, etc. Nevertheless it is felt by the majority that this is a futile idea. However, most Tamils feel that the sovereignty of Tamil Nadu must be maintained without compromise. The beauty of the Tamil Nationalists is that they are for secular democratic non-violent approaches, but in course of time this will definitely provoke people to indulge in hatred and violence.
In the month of April, 2023 a BJP cadre created a fictitious story with the intention of provoking a communal riot and posted on social media that the labourers of Bihar were attacked; the news created panic among the workers to run back to their respective places. So the DMK government was asked for an explanation. This led to serious investigation and then the arrest of the BJP activist who made this news viral in the social media.
Concluding Remarks: Very recently a feeling of strangeness is strongly experienced among the Tamils in Tamil Nadu due to heavy immigration and settlement of north Indians, especially from Bihar and Chhattisgarh. Tension between locals and migrants has not yet died out, and some miscreants have been involved in prejudicial activities: a few temporary huts of such migrant workers were set fire to near Joderpalayam near Nammakal on 15 th May. Kerala, Mumbai and Sri Lanka are also witnesses of these problems in different ways. One of the reasons for such resentment is that while the BJP is trying to infringe the rights of the Tamil people they are encouraging north Indians to settle in Tamil Nadu. Whereas the BJP is working against the Muslim and Christian minorities who settled in Manipur, joining hands with the local Hindutva forces. If the votes of minority migrants are favourable to the BJP then they encourage migration; if they go against their plan they create communal tension. A fair number of votes of these migrants to Tamil Nadu are going to the BJP as they are supported by Union government policies such as ‘One vote, one nation’, etc. The last straw which breaks the camel’s back is the latest remarks of Tamil Nadu Governor, K.N. Ravi, suggesting to change the name of Tamil Nadu into Thamilagam; this has resulted in a hue and cry and has attracted widespread condemnation from all corners of Tamil Nadu and from people across the political parties. It really helped the people in Tamil Nadu to wake up from the slumber of losing their rights.
Tamil Nadu has been known as a state in the forefront of consistently opposing neo-Aryanism, Brahminism, Hindi imposition, mono-culturalisation and fascism. That was the reason why Rahul Gandhi recently made an open statement in the Parliament to the BJP government, ‘You will never, ever win over the people of Tamil Nadu.’ Since Tamil Nadu proves to be industrially one of the most well-developed states with a fairly good infrastructure, many north Indians are migrating to Tamil Nadu for job opportunities. Therefore, a strong resentment has developed against the pro-Hindutva parties which are encouraging mass migration into Tamil Nadu. Right-wing Hindutva parties and their allies in Tamil Nadu are silent over these immigration policies.
Hindi is not a native language of any of the states of India, and no state is formed on the basis of Hindi either. The Hindi belt people speak about Hindu nationalism since there is no plausibility of claiming Hindi Nationalism in India. The BJP as well as the RSS have always opposed states based on language but are in favour of creating 100 Jan Parishads and ruling from New Delhi which could spell disaster for the regional languages in India.
Nevertheless, there are many allegations about the existence of pseudo-Tamil Nationalist groups in Tamil Nadu, and each one blames the others. There are confusions and ambiguities in defining who are the Tamilians and Dravidians and who are the outsiders? Who is genuine Tamil? How do we measure the purity and quality of ethnicity, and what could be the criteria? Can we identify an ethnic group by language alone? In what way are Seeman’s arguments justifiable to exclude Adi-Tamils under Tamil nationalism while including Aryan Brahmins? People like Maniyarasan define that those who settled before November 1, 1956 and their successors could be accepted as insiders, and the rest of them can work and earn in Tamil Nadu, but cannot claim to be candidates for the political leadership. He cites examples from Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra States, where no outsiders are allowed to become chief minister but can become member of the State Assembly. States like Maharashtra and Telangana have already legally restricted the movements of the immigration of neighbours into their states. And voting rights and ration cards should not be issued to the outsiders, but must be discouraged with special Inner Line Permits like in Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh.
The phrase ‘Dravidian Model’ was introduced in Tamil Nadu since M.K. Stalin assumed power as Chief Minister in 2021. Knowing the grave situation of the migration flow into the state, the DMK government attempted to arrest the tide of migration for government employment by reversing the earlier government policy of the TNPSC, permitting only those who studied Tamil to write exams for the job opportunities. This sounds as if the government job opportunities will be limited to outsiders, but they are open for other private individual cases. Moreover, new attempts are being explored by the DMK government of Tamil Nadu to ensure Tamil people’s rights in Tamil Nadu with a new identity card called ‘People’s ID’, in addition to the Aadhaar Card.
A pertinent question which arises here is why are the common people running for job opportunities from BJP-ruled ‘Gujarat Model’ states to ‘Dravidian Model’ states? Infrastructure-wise most of the BJP-ruled north Indian states are still very weak. They are unable to attract investment from outside due to political uncertainties, violence, communal and hate feelings, etc. It is a puzzling question whether the BJP is encouraging such unemployed people to make use of the labour situation in Tamil Nadu and consolidating non-Tamil votes to BJP. Cities like Coimbatore and Thiruppur are already filled with majority non-Tamils, and success of the candidates in the elections is decided by them. In this context one can understand very well the ‘One nation, one vote, one ration card’ slogans of PM Narendra Modi, as relevant for their political gains.
Finally, a significant question comes to our mind to ask whether the Tamils are really narrow-minded, fanatic and anti-Indian nationalists. Could we rightly brand these Tamil nationalist movements as communal or unprogressive under the Indian constitutional framework? If we look at the issue very deeply, Tamils are in general neither narrow-minded nor against the Constitution. But whenever domination and oppression come in any form they wake up and protest. As far as history goes, the Tamils have always been inclusive, tolerant and accommodating, but recent developments in the socio-economic situation and right-wing political ideologies and identity politics of parties in Tamil Nadu have made them to rethink their position. It is not the Tamil people who are creating the issues but the policies of the State and so-called statesmen’s selfish agenda which make the people act and react. One must remember that the neo-liberal market economy of global capitalism is able to survive efficiently by using religion, language and culture and by fanning communal feeling, uneven growth and new identity crises everywhere. Due to unfair treatment, the monolithic hegemony of the Union Government of India and the imposition of their socio-political and cultural ideologies over the States and the Union Territories in India necessitate that Tamil nationalism is a deeply felt issue. If there is a constant threat to the autonomy of the state, accommodative politics, equal distribution of power and fair treatment in a federal system, the question of breakaway is inevitable in any structures.
[This paper was presented on 22 July, 2023, under the auspices of the Vivekananda Chair, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala]