VCK founder and MP Thol. Thirumavalavan’s recent speech against the decision to seal the Sri Dharmaraja Draupadi Amman temple in Melpathi in Villupuram, where Dalits were allegedly denied entry by Vanniyars, has caused a furore among a section of leaders of the Vanniyar community.
PMK spokesperson K. Balu, who was the likely target of Mr. Thirumavalavan’s speech at a protest meeting, warned that a defamation suit will be filed against him for his comments “against the Vanniyar community”.
Several clips of the speech shared on social media feature Mr. Thirumavalavan launching a verbal attack, presumably directed at Mr. Balu.
“The speech is condemnable. I don’t know why the leaders – Dravidar Kazhagam president K. Veeramani, CPI(M) State secretary K. Balakrishnan and TNCC vice-president A. Gopanna – who participated in the event have not condemned the speech yet. He called me names, and the worst part is he said, ‘It is his caste mindset’, when referring to me — he was referring to the Vanniyar community as a whole. We cannot accept the defaming of a community,” Mr. Balu said.
He, however, added that the Melpathi issue should be “carefully analysed”.
“The Draupadi Amman temple belongs to a community. The issue flared up on April 11. At the insistence of Ayya (PMK founder S. Ramadoss), we met the people there, who requested us to safeguard their temple. It was a tense situation — thousands of women and police personnel were there. The people said there was an attempt to destroy the temple, and they will not allow anyone to do that, as the temple was built by their forefathers. They feared there was an attempt to take over the temple. We told them we will provide legal help to ensure that the traditions of the temple were followed,” Mr. Balu said.
He said the people’s views should be taken into account.
According to him, Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy was responsible for triggering this issue with his comments during his visit to Villupuram in May, when he had said that everyone was free to enter the temple.
Mr. Thirumavalavan was using the issue for political gains before the 2024 Lok Sabha election, he alleged.
“Is there a mindset for every community? Is it okay to say, ‘It is the mindset of the community he belongs to’? It is wrong. One should make comments about the individual (and not the community). This shouldn’t be allowed,” he said.
Mr. Balu claimed that Mr. Thirumavalavan had been consistently attacking the PMK and trying to isolate it from Tamil Nadu politics.
