Chennai: The Hindu faithful are stepping up their angry discourses and demonstrations against the 'derogatory' statements allegedly made by DMK Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi and national award winning poet Vairamuthu denigrating their religion and deities. They are upset that Kanimozhi had poked fun at Lord Venkateswara and Vairamuthu said Andal was a devadasi.
The Tamil Nadu Brahmins Association held a demonstration at Mylapore on Friday against Vairamuthu and threatened to picket his Besant Nagar residence unless he apologised within a week. "It is not enough if Vairamuthu merely expr-esses regret; he must go to the Andal shrine at Srivilliputhur and seek pardon by prostrating before the deity. Or else, we will picket his house", said association president 'Pammal' Ramakrishnan.
Vairamuthu has already explained that he did not refer to the Alwar saint Andal as devadasi and had only recalled in his article to Tamil daily 'Dinamani' that an American researcher had said do. In any case, he was expressing regret if his words had hurt anyone, said the poet-lyricist. But it now appears that his "mere expression of regret" does not suffice for the angry devotees of the revered composer of Thiruppavai.
"We are organising a massive rally of Hindu scholars, devotees and members of the public at Chepauk on Monday evening to consolidate the Hindu resolve to fight against these constant attacks on our faith, on our deities by these so-called rationalists. Various Jeer swamis and pontiffs will lead this meeting, where we will launch our movement called, 'Long Live Hindu Dharma'. We are sure of a big turnout as many Hindus are deeply hurt", said the rally coordinator Varadarajan.
"Though there have been many assaults on our religion and traditional beliefs, we have been sharing grief within the four walls, but not anymore. We have started coming out on the roads, even led by our holy Jeers", Varadarajan said.
Referring to Kanimozhi's remarks against Lord Venkateswara, he said the Dravidian leaders "are famous for their hypocrisy, preaching boycott of Hindi to the public while sending their own kids to English-medium schools and Hindu tuitions". All their so-called rationalism was "only for the galleries and not for personal practice", he said.
For her part, Kanimozhi has said she did not mean to hurt anyone when she spoke about the Tirumala Venkateswara. "If anyone files case against me in a court, I am willing to face it", she told reporters on Saturday. She already has a complaint lodged against her with the Tirupati police SP by the Andhra Pradesh BJP spokesperson Bhanuprakash Reddy.
The Hindu Munnani secretary in Rajapalayam, P. Suri, has lodged complaint in the local police station against Vairamuthu, following which the police have registered case under three sections against the poet-lyricist. HM activists in Chennai have filed two police complaints against him.
