Men who insult Hindu Gods boldly roam free and scream loud [ Tamil Nadu, India]

[ Reported as seen]

“Is Maari who asks for sacrificial goats and pigs a god? Is Kanna who raped women a god? Can intercourse between men produce a child? Is calling Ayyapan a god rational?”: These were some of the abuses hurled at the Hindu deities in a a Periyarist, Communist, Ambedkarite rally in Tamil Nadu on May 29, 2022.

The Hindu deities that were abused were Amman, Krishna and Ayyappa. Communists and other political allies of DMK participated in the rally where Hindu practice of piercing body parts as penance was also mocked.

In a ‘Red Shirt Rally’ organised by Communists and Periyarists in Madurai, TN, Hindu deities were denigrated in the name of ‘rationality’.

They also mocked the tradition of piercing body parts using spear, the divine weapon of Skanda in penance, a prevalent practice across TN. “Hey you who comes dancing piercing your body, Why don’t you pierce it through your chest once? Hey you devotee who comes dancing piercing your jaw. Why don’t you try piercing your throat once. Hey you devotee who comes walking with piercings in the tongue.. Why don’t you pierce it through your eyes once?” they shouted during the rally.

Ironically, despite claiming to be atheists and rationalists they called EV Ramasamy as ” Periyar the white bearded king who espoused the (above) teachings”. It should be noted that despite mocking Hindus for offering flowers, food, etc to their deities, Periyarists do the same to the statue of EV Ramasamy.

DMK pliant Tamil media reported it as a rally against Hindutva where atheist slogans were raised to “spread rationalism” and create awareness about the “origin of Hindu gods”. The News Minute, which also reported about the event didn’t even make a peep about the contentious slogans raised in the rally.

CPI-M leader Ramakrishnan, Madurai Communist MP Su Venkatesan, Periyarist organisations and DMK ally VCK participated in the rally. Su Venkatesan and Chidambaram MP Thirumavalavan are said to have presided over the event. Only a few days ago CPI state secretary Mutharasan said to the media that he is a Hindu and that CM Stalin is also a Hindu. He said that they are only against Hindutva which is trying to impose Manu dharma on them and not anti-Hindu.

Abusing the Gods of Hinduism is deep into opposing the religion. It is also disrupting the country’s peace and harmony.

To normalize this, R. Vikraman, the spokesperson of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Kachi (VCK) party in Tamil Nadu, made objectionable remarks about Lord Krishna.

During the debate on Times Now, he accused Lord Krishna of having illicit relationships in his youth with the Gopis. Vikraman said, “Krishna’s young age life was full of illicit (immoral) love affairs with the women of Vrindavan. It was called Rasleela.” While saying so, he added that all this is written in Puranas.

Co-panelist Rahul Easwar expressed grief and objection to this, saying that Vikraman cannot insult anyone’s God in this way. He said, “The Puranas are a symbolic description. It can’t be taken in the literal meaning. For example, if it is written in the Puranas that Ravana had ten heads; it does not literally mean that he carried ten heads, but it actually means that he was as intelligent as ten men put together. It means that he was a very intelligent and learned person.”

Rahul Easwar further said, “Similarly, whenever someone says that Ayyappa is a son of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu, it does not mean that Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu married each other. All it means is that Ayyappa is a form that integrates both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu, and Ayyappa is very significant in bringing two important sects of Hinduism – Vaishnava, and Shaiva- together. Similarly, Lord Krishna’s relationship with Gopis was not illicit but it was a spiritual bond. Making such remarks about Hindu gods and goddesses is nothing but Hinduphobia. Such people want to insult Hindu civilization and beliefs. Therefore, they make such indecent, obscene, and objectionable comments.”

On one side, when Nupur Sharma faces extreme consequences, such blasphemous comments propagated loudly and supported by many are viewed as being ‘rational’ and ‘secularism’.