The DMK Youth Wing Conference took place in Salem this past weekend. The event was surrounded by controversies right from the start. There were problematic speeches and statements made, the vulgarity on stage, the display of “family power” on the stage, and the cadre scrambling for food and water – they are numerous.
The conference, “to attract” the audience and keep them hooked, used its time-tested formula of what is locally known as “record dance”. This dance features skimpily clad women performing dance moves (vulgarly) to songs with, yes, you guessed it, vulgar lyrics.
What else was problematic, you ask? This “Standup comedy” featuring two people from a group called Pudhukottai Boopalam or Pudugai Boopalam, known for their profane statements in the name of comedy, made Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Hindus the centrepiece of their act. As with any DMK-related event, Brahmin bashing and Hindu bashing is a given. Here is a background of the comments made during the act.
In December 2023, the state of Tamil Nadu was devastated by floods both in the north and the south. The TN government, as usual, demanded an atrocious amount for flood relief, but the centre decided to pay another amount. Following this, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited the flood-affected regions of southern TN – Thoothukudi district on 26th December last year. She visited a place called Srivaikuntam, which was severely affected by the floods. During her time there, she visited the Vaikuntanathar Perumal Temple. She also inspected the chariot procession path that was ravaged by the floods. This is where the controversy arose.
This temple, which comes under the ambit of the HR & CE department, was the centre of all news for a few days. The reason was – a video of the FM speaking to the officials at the temple when a devotee complained about the toilet in the path of the Brahmotsavam procession. It was revealed that the deity’s procession followed a path behind the temple, which unfortunately had become an open-air public toilet, causing a powerful stench. Responding promptly, Sitharaman instructed officials to take immediate action to address and rectify the problem. In the same video, she also tells the devotee not to donate funds for this and instead asks him to put that money for the archaka (priest) in the aarti plate.
Coming back to the DMK Youth Wing conference, the standup act goes like this – a short clipping of the act went viral on social media, and it has been transcribed and translated here.
The comics say, “That woman, she is the “Union” government’s Finance minister. Finance minister is such a high post. A fool tells her that a stench is emanating from there. See who he is telling this to. He could have told the AEO or someone working there, and they would have cleaned it. He complained about this to Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Finance Minister. What should she have said? She should have told him that taking care of the potty and passing urine is not my job; should she not have said that? But look at what she did! Instead of giving us the funds (for floods), she is doing the job of cleaning toilets. And even if one has to give the funds, where is she asking them to give? Put it on the plate (aarti plate)(these specific words are spoken in a Tambram dialect). What you were receiving on the plate was brought to Hundi as public money by the Dravidian party. We took it from the plate to the Hundi and gave it to the public. If we take it from the plate to the Hundi and give it to the people, she asks how can you do it! Do you know why we are controlling the temple? Do you know why the government is controlling the temple? There are many people like Devanathan in Kanchipuram because he will do all those things; we are controlling the temple.”
Why is this “standup comedy” problematic? First, they are ridiculing the Finance Minister for her Brahmin background. Then they attacked her for questioning the HR & CE department and directing them to finish the work.
They are also attacking Brahmins and Hindus by saying the temples are under government control to prevent certain activities from occurring in the temple. The duo mentioned the name Devanathan; he was a temple priest in Kanchipuram who was involved in an alleged sex scandal.
The “comedy” watched by DMK Minister and son of Chief Minister Stalin, Udhayanidhi Stalin – who readers might remember for his comments on eradicating Sanatana Dharma, and is accompanied by DMK members such as Ponmudi, who was recently stripped of his MLA post as well as minister post after he got convicted in a disproportionate assets case.
DMK, sticking to its principle and ideology of Brahmin and Hindu hate, has done it once again at the conference in Salem. This time, the punching bag was the Finance Minister.
