Dravidianists and followers of the Dravidian ideology have indulged in spewing casteist slurs especially against Tamil Brahmins for a very long time. One such instance came to fore a few days ago when a Dravidianist “social media influencer” named Kovai Harish, shared a clipping of a video where Sivasri Skandaprasad, a Carnatic musician (singer), Bharatnatyam dancer and also indulges in Namasankeertanam and bhajans, is seen talking about how we Bharatiyas must advocate traditional clothing. In the video, she says, “We go out wearing pants and shirts for comfort. That is not our dress code. We go out wearing coat suits in the name of formals. That is not our dress code. To suit our climatic conditions, we have had a dress code for many centuries. If we are proud of our dress code, we can proudly say that this is our Indian formals.”

But if we have a look at the entire 30-minute video of the speech she gave at an event about a year ago, she is advocating Bharatiyas to wear traditional clothing because it will be a symbol of decoloniality, a symbol of freedom from the colonial mindset.

As usual, the Dravidianists spewed venom against her being a fair-skinned Brahmin woman, well-versed in the arts. 

One particular handle that goes by the name Dr Aravind Rajaa (it is unclear whether they are really a qualified physician) shared pictures of Sivasri in “Western” clothing and added the caption, “That Paapaara (casteist slur for Brahmins)… Sorry Sorry.. Bharathiya Traditional Maami (a sexist and derogatory reference to Tamil Brahmin women)“. 

The case in point here are a few things:

1. Distort her original statement/stand
2. Post casteist slurs for those small joys of abusing a Brahmin
3. Share pictures without consent

Several netizens including actor Kasturi spoke up in support of Sivasri only to receive casteist abuses and being named “prostitute” by the same handle that abused SIvasri.

In an interview with Smita Prakash on her ANI Podcast, advocate J Sai Deepak raised this point about Dravidian ideology and their fascination for the Brahmin woman. He said, “One of the dirtiest parts of D politics was competition for the TB woman – she was offered as the prize, with the filthiest of language and connotations being used”

Now one might wonder what these castest slurs mean.

• Paapara/Paarpan/Paapaan – these words are used to indicate Brahmin but said as a slur
• Mami – a term used exclusively for tambram women, who are objects of fascination for Dravidianists, used as a sexist cat call.

Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was hounded, abused, physically attacked by the DMK and Dravidianists for 2 main reasons:

1. She was a woman
2. She was a Brahmin (Iyengar) woman

She was often referred to as “paapathi” which is a Dravidian slur for Brahmin women. Other cases where Brahmin women have been addressed so.

Union FM Nirmala Sitharaman

We just saw the instance of J Jayalalithaa being subjected to harassment during her political career by the Dravidianists. Ever since Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, came to hold the post in the Union Cabinet, owing to her roots in Tamil Nadu and her Tambram background, she has been subjected to similar casteist venom and abuse by them. Here are a few instances:

Former Union minister and present DMK MP, Dayanidhi Maran made several casteist remarks against Nirmala Sitharaman. In August 2023, when he participated in a day-long fast against the continuation of the NEET exam, he made a speech and said, “In 2016, J Jayalalithaa passed away and BJP wanted to use every opportunity to come to power with the help of the “slaves” and that is why they sent “Nirmala Mami”. Ok, they sent Nirmala Sitharaman. What she does is (laughs, as someone points out why he mentioned the word Mami – he responds by saying, I said it inadvertently.) 

A former judge named Chandru Krishnaswamy referred to Nirmala Sitharaman as “Oorgai Ammaiyar” or Pickle Lady (this “nickname” was created after a video of the FM making pickle at her home went viral) and this slur is also as casteist as the other slurs because it indicates Brahmin women are fit for making pickles. The post shared on his Facebook taking a dig at BJP leader H Raja reads, “Like pickle lady, he is trying to get into the Rajya Sabha through the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.”

Slurs against T Nagar Councillor Uma Anandan

BJP candidate from T Nagar in Chennai, a firebrand karyakarta named Uma Anandan became the victim of such attacks as she contested the local body elections in 2022. Several DMK members and Dravidianists spread fake news about her getting only 8 votes and made posts on Twitter calling her “8 Mami”. 

Uma Anandan became popular for her firebrand speeches and her unconditional support for Godse. She was also made fun of by several YouTubers and was named “Godse mami” because she said she supported Nathuram Godse for his actions of killing Gandhi. She was also called Mylapore Mami, and such – here are a few YouTube thumbnails that depict her with a tonsure and also call her a paapathi.

In this post made by a Dravidianist named Kalidas, he makes fun of her and her family and again spread the fake news about her getting only 8 votes in the election. He wrote, “BJP Candidate from Chennai Corporation got 8 votes. She herself hailed Gandhi killer and independent India’s first terrorist Godse in a recent interview. Point to be noted, neighbours say that her family has 11 members yet she secured just 8 votes.”

A scene in a movie with a Tambram woman named Pattu mami is teased as 10 mami (Pathu mami) is shown in the meme and compared to Uma Anandan’s fake vote count.

Uma Anandan won convincingly with a huge margin in that election and became the sole BJP win in Chennai city. 

DMK members abusing journalists

Journalists Sandhya Ravishankar of The Lede, Akshita Nandagopal of India Today, and Chandra Srikanth of MoneyControl have faced similar abuses from all quarters just because they are brahmins. 

Chandra Srikanth was targeted when she posted about a “top leader’s son involving in a mega land grab”. The then TN Finance Minister PTR Palanivel THiagarajan quoted her post and spoke about “a certain thread ilk”. Again the word thread (nool, poonool) refers to janeu and indicates the brahmin. 

The same PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan regularly targeted Sandhya Ravishankar as well as The Hindu’s Malini Parthasarathy. During his tenure as the DMK IT Wing head, he engaged in degrading behaviour against Sandhya Ravishankar, who had exposed certain inconsistencies in the narrative surrounding the Pollachi Sexual Abuse case.

While he did not call her casteist slurs, PTR has spoken derogatorily on Twitter/X to Malini Parthasarathy quite a few times.

As for Akshita Nandagopal, she has been targeted quite a few times and even called an agent of the BJP and RSS for being a Brahmin and a “nooliban” journalist. (Nooliban is a combination of the words nool (janeu) and taliban)

When she reported about the Chidambaram Dikshitar issue, all she got was abuse in the name of caste.

In the podcast with Smita Prakash, Sai Deepak also mentions how this abuse against Tamil Brahmins is mainstreamed and normalised – through literature, pop culture, theatre/cinema. 

Movies have been produced that revolve around the disturbing and degrading fantasies (rape) that these low self-esteem Dravidianists have about the Tambram woman. Showing Tambram women as objects of desire was a regular feature in the 80s and 90s. Movies with the theme of tambram families was a regular feature during those times. The Brahmin woman in the film would have a “weak” husband and she would lust for a “non Brahmin”. This was regularly shown in films made by Bhagyaraj and his peers. 

It’s ironic how some people express disdain for Brahmins, yet simultaneously exhibit a strong fascination, albeit in a derogatory way. These comments can be quite hurtful, especially when they appear to project an image that is unkind or unattractive. The Dravidianist ideology primarily thrives on insinuations and derogatory language, with little or no substance beyond that. What can we expect from an ideology whose founding “Father” called for “Enjoyment without Responsibility”