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The Hindu
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
When Jayalalithaa insisted on retaining the casteist term ‘pappathi' in Tamil Nadu Assembly records
Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's caste has become a subject matter of discussion, almost nine years after her passing. Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol. Thirumavalavan recently triggered a row by alluding that All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) founder M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) was instrumental in facilitating the 'intrusion' of a Brahmin (Jayalalithaa) into the Dravidian movement and laid the path for her leadership of a Dravidian party. In her early years of heading the AIADMK after MGR's death and later becoming the Chief Minister in 1991, Jayalalitha (as she spelt her name then) had endured strong criticism from her political opponents, notably the DMK, on account of her upper caste origins. Responding to taunts on her Brahmin roots, she once declared in the Legislative Assembly, 'Naan pappathi thaan (I am a Brahmin woman).' This was sometime in 1991. However, records indicating when and in what context she made this statement are not readily available. Nonetheless, a perusal of The Hindu's archives show that in September 1991, political discourse in Tamil Nadu was dominated by what was perceived an anti-Brahmin campaign by the DMK. Under former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's leadership, the DMK had announced its intention to expose the 'group' in power then. Karunanidhi had clarified his statement (on the 'group') should not be misconstrued to mean another anti-Brahmin movement would be launched. Notwithstanding his claim, on September 23, 1991, several members in the Assembly condemned the 'anti-Brahmin campaign unleashed by the DMK recently.' Law Minister K.A. Krishnaswami referred to one such campaign in the DMK mouthpiece Murasoli and asked was it not an attack on a particular community and would it not amount to inciting violence. 'The anti-Brahmin attitude prevalent now is only followed by the DMK, which is a casteist organisation,' he charged. Labour Minister C. Aranganayagam contended the AIADMK was following DMK founder C.N. Annadurai's policy of not discriminating against any community. But, it was the DMK, which professed to follow the path shown by Annadurai, that was following a wrong policy. 'Buttressing the AIADMK stand, the Law Minister argued that there was a question whether the DMK, at the time of its formation, should be an organisation of Dravidians or for the welfare of Dravidians. It was Annadurai who decided that persons belonging to any single community should not be discriminated against because of their birth and said anyone could become a member of the organisation,' a report in The Hindu said. Congress (I) MLA S. Peter Alphonse had then charged that a sustained and planned anti-Brahmin campaign had been going on for the last 15 days. It was undertaken to threaten the Chief Minister, frighten her and unseat her at a time she embarked on a programme of wiping out anti-national forces. It was aimed at creating an atmosphere of hatred in the State, he said, adding raising the issue in the House that day was the next stage of the campaign. Interestingly, the then Finance Minister V.R. Nedunchezhian said five or six Brahmins were working in Murasoli but what the DMK was now indulging in was for 'political reasons.' The issue dominated the proceedings in the Assembly on the following day too. Chief Minister Jayalalitha said, 'The anti-Brahmin campaign of the DMK deserves to be dismissed with contempt.' She said the members need not have any apprehension that the DMK would succeed in its designs to whip up communal passions for unseating the government. She charged the DMK had 'miserably failed' when it sought to brand MGR a Malayali. 'None would have forgotten the vicious campaign unleashed by the DMK and how people rejected it with scorn. Such intimidation tactics did not affect the MGR Government,' The Hindu reported on her speech. 'In her case too, the DMK had adopted a similar strategy of labelling her as Brahmin in the hope of turning the rest of the communities against her. Ms. Jayalalitha said that right from the day she entered active politics in 1982, the DMK had been deriding her as a Brahmin woman. This cut no ice. The DMK attacked her in the same vein, at meeting after meeting, when she contested the election to the Assembly from Bodinaickanur in 1989. But the people returned her with a massive margin,' the report said. She asserted the caste factor had become irrelevant in politics. During the proceedings, Mr. Alphonse, had urged that the word 'pappathi' be expunged from the Assembly records as it might be considered derogatory and hurt the feelings of a community. However, Jayalalitha did not agree with him. 'It should very much be on record so that posterity will know to what extent a particular community has been ridiculed,' she said. In a report 'Jayalalitha's 100 days: A positive balance-sheet', published on October 6, 1991, The Hindu correspondent wrote: 'The DMK which had given six months to the AIADMK Government to demonstrate its worth appears already in jitters. It has made Ms. Jayalalitha its prime target and started a sustained campaign portraying her as 'papathi' (Brahmin woman) and a symbol of Aryan domination over the Dravidian Tamils, thereby taking politics back to the pre-lndependence days. All that, however, has not deterred Ms. Jayalalitha from going ahead with her programmes with the AIADMK solidly behind her.'
New Indian Express
01-08-2025
- New Indian Express
Dowry death: Rithanya's father meets home secretary, says cops shielding accused
CHENNAI: The father of 27-year-old Rithanya, who died by suicide on June 28 allegedly due to dowry harassment, met the home secretary on Thursday and sought the appointment of an investigation officer having no ties with the accused and not influenced by local politicians. In his letter, her father Annadurai detailed the mental, physical and sexual abuse Rithanya suffered at the hands of her husband Kavin Kumar. He said Kavin's parents, Eswaramoorthy and Chitradevi, were aware of the abuse and complicit in it. Accusing the police of shielding the accused, Annadurai said the initial investigation was filled with discrepancies. He alleged that SI Duraisamy took his phone without following due procedure at the scene of the incident and made him sign a complaint stating that his daughter had died under suspicious circumstances. After he received his phone at night and listened to Rithanya's voice notes describing the abuse, he rushed to the police station, but the officers refused to incorporate the details in the initial complaint. He also accused the police of leaking his daughter's voice notes to the media and sections 85 and 108 (cruelty and abetment to suicide) of the BNS were added only after public outrage. Annadurai further alleged that police had failed to seize digital evidence and has been delaying the autopsy report.
India Today
30-07-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Actor Vijay says 2026 will see new party win like 1967, 1977 Tamil Nadu polls
Actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay declared that the 2026 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu would be as significant as the 1967 and 1977 polls, where new parties emerged victorious by defeating long-established ones. He was addressing booth-level functionaries at a party event to launch the MYTVK mobile application in said, '2026 will be as big an election as 1967 and 1977. We are sure of that. In these two elections, new parties won by defeating the already existing strong parties. The logic of how they won is simple. They met the people of Tamil Nadu. I want to repeat what Annadurai said. Be with people, plan with people and live for people. If you do this right, victory is certain. We can win by bringing the people together.'advertisementIn the 1967 elections, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), led by CN Annadurai, secured a landmark victory by defeating the Indian National Congress, marking the first time a non-Congress party formed the government in Tamil Nadu. A decade later, in the 1977 elections, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), under the leadership of its founder MG Ramachandran defeated the DMK. MGR was sworn in as Chief Minister for the first time, marking another major political transition in the added, 'The way to win elections is city to city, street to street, and door to door campaign. That is why this app MYTVK is released. After this I will be at the Madurai manadu, meeting people and travelling. People are with us. Good things will happen. Victory is certain.'The MYTVK app, launched on Wednesday, will be used for a state-wide membership enrollment drive and real-time monitoring of booth-level agents. The party has set an ambitious goal of enrolling two crore primary members and five crore people inclusive of their family members. 'Every family in Tamil Nadu must be enrolled into the party through the app. Booth level agents are deployed for this,' Vijay said, adding that the app will be functional from August this app, Vijay will be able to monitor enrollment numbers across the state in real-time from his phone. The initiative is part of TVK's grassroots mobilisation strategy as it prepares for its electoral debut in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections.- Ends IN THIS STORY#Tamil Nadu
The Hindu
19-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Aavin's milk powder plant at Padalur likely to be ready by December
The modern milk powder manufacturing plant coming up at an estimated cost of ₹150 crore at Padalur in Perambalur district is likely to be completed by December. Being established by Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Ltd., which owns the Aavin brand, the 60-tonne plant is being set up with NABARD Rural Infrastructure Development Fund 2022-23. The plant will have a capacity to process about six lakh litres of milk a day. The plant is coming up with a floor space of 8,000 square metres. It would be a seven-storey structure and equipped with advanced machinery required for manufacture of milk powder, including skimmed milk powder, and other dairy products such as dairy whitener and butter. While the civil construction works are being executed at a cost of ₹26.53 crore, work is also underway on erecting machinery worth ₹120 crore, said A. Annadurai, Commissioner of Milk Production and Dairy Development, who reviewed the progress of civil works and the erection of machinery along with Collector S. Arunraj and other senior officials on Friday. Mr. Annadurai instructed the officials to expedite the works and complete them by December. This will be one of the biggest such plants in the State and benefit milk suppliers from 11 districts including Perambalur, Tiruchi, Ariyalur, Karur and Pudukottai. Surplus milk would be converted into milk powder and other dairy products at the plant. Mr. Annadurai discussed with the officials the quantum of current milk procurement in the districts, the milk routes and creation of link roads for smooth transportation of milk to the plant from the producers in remote villages.
Time of India
12-07-2025
- Time of India
Tirupur woman suicide: Parents want cops to modify charges against her husband, in-laws
COIMBATORE: Parents of a newlywed woman, who killed herself in Tirupur district, have demanded that her husband and in-laws, who have been arrested for abetting her suicide, be charged for dowery and sexual harassments too. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now They also demanded the appointment of a separate investigation officer to probe the case. Ridhanya, 27, died by suicide near Avinashi on June 29. Before ending her life, she sent a voice message to her father narrating the mental and physical harassment she had endured from her husband and in-laws. The Tirupur police arrested her husband, Kavin Kumar, 28, and father-in-law Eswaramurthy, 51, and mother-in-law Chithradevi, 47. On Saturday, the woman's father Annadurai, and his family members met West Zone inspector general of police T Senthilkumar and submitted a petition urging him to modify the charges framed against the accused. The petition demanded that the accused be charged under sections of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Woman Act and a few more sections of the BNS. Speaking to the media, Annadurai stated that the police have registered this only as a suicide case. "Since the autopsy reports, lab reports, and voice recording analyses are yet to be furnished, there is a delay in the investigation. We fear that the matter is not being properly assessed and is being treated as an ordinary suicide case. The accused are taking advantage of the situation and can easily evade or get bail. " Annadurai's advocate Kuppuraj said the FIR was filed under sections 85 (cruelty by a husband) and 108 (abetment of suicide) of the BNS. They have requested the IG to include Section 4B of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Woman Act, 1998 and sections 75, 76, 77, 80, 118, and 125 of the BNS, as well.
