Governor Peddling Lies to Sanctify and Absolve Aryan Divisive Social Order: DMK

The DMK's party organ 'Murasoli' slams governor RN Ravi of repeatedly indulging in unabashed falsehood. In its editorial, it condemns Ravi for squarely blaming the British for the social evils like caste divisions. It terms Ravi's speech as a blatant attempt to distort history so as to paint a rosy picture about the Aryans and their oppressive social order, reports ETV Bharat's MC Rajan.

Chennai: Stung by the two-pronged attacks launched by governor RN Ravi, on the administrative and ideological front, the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu is not ready to leave things lying down. His persistent debunking of the Dravidian movement and ideology apart from sitting on the Bills passed by the Assembly, has opened up fresh confrontation between the DMK and the Raj Bhavan.

Bracing up for the ideological battle, the 'Murasoli' editorial on Friday said the governor not only refuses to pay heed to corrections but continues to parrot falsehood as history. It all started with Ravi recently extolling the virtues of Sanatana Dharma which drew sharp reactions from the DMK and its allies.

And, earlier this week he asserted that the concept of Aryan and Dravidian was not racial but geographical. Speaking at an event to commemorate the 216th Vellore Sepoy Uprising, he blamed the British for creating a “false history'' as part of their divide and rule policy. They made it racial to suit their needs.”

Thus he made himself open to criticism from those aligned to the Dravidian ideology as well as Tamil nationalism and identity. Significantly, he is the first governor of the state to wade into ideological controversy. This elicited a strong counter from the DMK with former Union Minister and party treasurer, TR Baalu.

Baalu reminded the governor that the term 'Dravidian' was not a British invention but preceded the colonial era as it had been mentioned in Purusha Sukta of the Rig Veda, Manu Smritiand and Mahabharata besides other ancient texts. However, displaying his proclivity to Right wing narrative of history, Ravi reiterated that the British were to be blamed for the Aryan-Dravidian divide.

In his convocation address at Madurai Kamaraj University, Ravi said the British weakened the unity of the country and infuse inferiority complex in the natives... they created literature about Aryans and Dravidians being races, whereas this was just a geographical distinction.

That Dravidians are distinctive is a core ideological pillar of the century-old Dravidian movement and the DMK, which inherits that mantle cannot be expected to swallow it being debunked. On assuming office, Chief Minister MK Stalin's twitter handle states that he belongs to the 'Dravidian Stock' so are the accounts of other ministers and DMK functionaries.

As such, the governor's assault on the distinctive Dravidian identity and ideology has invited strong condemnation. Even those espousing Tamil nationalism are opposed to the right wing narrative. “The cat is out of the bag,” the editorial said, indicating that Ravi is an apologist of right wing narrative.

"It was not the British but the Aryans who sowed the seeds of a divisive social order. The governor's attempt to blame the British is to legitimise and sanctify the Aryans in order to absolve them in creating and perpetuating social divisions. Not only the governor displays his ignorance of Dravidians, but also of Aryans,” the DMK mouthpiece said citing eminent historian DD Kosambi and Dr BR Ambedkar. Ravi being a former IPS officer, the party reminded him that the IPS itself was a creation of the British.