A tweet by a DMK spokesperson justifying the “kill Tamil Brahmins” call given by Dravidian stalwart E V R Periyar at a meeting in Karaikudi in 1973 has triggered a controversy.
Former MP Subramanian Swamy has moved the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking derecognition of the DMK as a political party for the call to subject “Brahmins of Tamil Nadu to genocide.”
DMK spokesperson Rajiv Gandhi, a lawyer by profession, made the controversial remarks in reply to a video “quote-tweeted” by television personality Sumanth Raman in which Periyar was advocating the killing of Brahmins at a public meeting in Karaikudi in 1973.
“If we had heeded to what Periyar had said, we would not have been standing before people like you for justice, rights, jobs, education, and equality. You (Brahmins) may be just 3 per cent but you dominate in several fields even now,” Rajiv Gandhi wrote in reply to Raman’s post.
While quote-tweeting the video, Raman had said those from the rest of India may want to listen to this speech. “Especially workers who have no idea of the hatred spread and the calls for genocide made then. That a genocide did not happen is thanks in large measure to Indira Gandhi, MGR and Jayalalithaa,” he wrote.
In his letter, Swamy said Rajiv Gandhi has violated the principles laid down by the Commission based on the Representation of Peoples Act. “This threat directly impinges on the fundamental rights of the so-called Brahmin community in Tamil Nadu and could affect their voting rights out of fear that they would not go to vote in elections, making it easier for the DMK to get elected in several constituencies,” he said.
Swamy also told the ECI that he would be happy to “adduce legal evidence” and arguments and submit necessary documents to prove the case for cancelling the registration of the DMK and withdrawing the election symbol of Rising Sun, allotted to the party.