When Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to endear himself to seven Scheduled Caste sub-sects stating that the Centre had accepted their demand to be known by their ‘heritage’ name Devendrakula Velalar, it appeared the BJP had made a political breakthrough in Tamil Nadu. This led to theories that the Devendrakula Velalars would solidly back the AIADMK-BJP alliance in the Assembly election.
On Friday, the Lok Sabha passed a Bill to classify the Devendrakulathan, Kadaiyan, Kalladi, Kudumban, Pallan, Pannadi and Vathiriyan communities as Devendrakula Velalars. A section of the Devendrakula Velalars has also demanded that it be de-listed from the Scheduled Caste. Critics, though, saw this as an attempt at social engineering by the BJP to gain a foothold in the electoral space.
A visit to a couple of villages in the south having a significant presence of the Devendrakula Velalars, however, reveals that the ground reality is slightly different. While the BJP and Mr. Modi appear to have won hearts, it is smaller organisations that pioneered the demand — the name change more pronounced than the de-listing — which are pulling the strings and reshaping these ideas constantly. Also, there is a marked difference in the manner in which the younger generation looks at the issue, compared with the elderly population.
At Oorudaiyarpuram in Tirunelveli district, the youngsters say that being marked as ‘SC payyan ’ (a Scheduled Caste boy) has taken a psychological toll on the community. According to them, the negative aspects (of being in the list) far outweigh the positive aspects. “Everywhere we go, they [the dominant castes] call us ‘SC payyan ’. In colleges, we are marked as a Scheduled Caste and treated differently. We don’t like it. We need that name [Devendrakula Velalar] and taken out of the list,” says Ashok, a commerce graduate, who works at a company making ‘Paneer’ in Tirunelveli.
The older people were sceptical of these demands and raised the critical issues of the loss of constitutional protection from discrimination. “Our livelihood has not improved though we have the constitutional guarantees. Leaders who had humble beginnings are saying we should come out of the list. We respect them for what they did but they have done well for themselves. What would happen to our children when we leave the list? How would we protect ourselves from caste atrocities,” asks an elderly person.
This was the recurring theme: there was a divide between the young and the old; the educated and the uneducated. Activists claim those who couldn’t gain any benefit from being in the list are more likely to support these demands than those who have been benefited. While the smaller outfits have systematically propagated (the contested) ideas of ‘glorious Mallar history’ by publishing several books and insisted that the community not be in the list, activists who view the issue from the Dravidian and Ambedkarite traditions argue that it is far from the truth.
P. Ramaraj, a retired district judge in Tenkasi district, says the population that supports these demands does not understand its consequences. “They say we are agriculturalists and we are landowners. Let them show how many members of the community own more than five acres. The truth is that they are marginally better than other Scheduled Caste communities. If the community members are doing well to some extent, it is because of the loans they have obtained through the Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation,” he says.
He feels the leaders like K. Krishnasamy of the Puthiya Tamilagam will be defeated, and the community will largely vote for the DMK-led alliance this time. “If people like us to work for the DMK, they [the alliance] will get 70%-80% of the votes. They [the Sangh Parivar] tried to create a propaganda favourable to Mr. Modi, but it did not work,” he says.
At Naganakulam in Madurai, some outfits are supporting Mr. Modi. Madurai Muthupandi, deputy secretary, Tamizhar Viduthalai Kalam, dismisses concerns that this is the work of the Sangh Parivar.
“We had raised these demands for years. These demands have been there before the RSS came on the scene. Why didn’t the State or Tamil parties back them? Mr. Modi has ensured that the entire world will talk about us. This is the first victory in our fight. We will support him in the election,” he says.
Activists says these developments have forced the two influential leaders, Dr. Krishnasamy and John Pandian of the Tamilaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, to back these demands to remain relevant within the community. While the Puthiya Tamilagam is contesting alone in 60 seats after exiting the AIADMK-led alliance in protest against the government’s failure to de-list the Devendrakula Velalars, Mr. Pandian is contesting on the AIADMK symbol in Egmore.
