Vijay, Your Politics Is Now Undeniably Clear — Thank You

There has been quite a lot of heartburn among Tamil Hindus over actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay not extending greetings over the Tamil New Year.

It is Dravidian ideology that Tamil New Year should not be celebrated in Chitrai (14 April) but on Thai-1 (Pongal festival). There were many Tamils who believed (and perhaps even today believe) that Vijay was making a turn away from Dravidian ideology. However, with his silence on the Tamil New Year, he has shown that not only is he pro-Dravidian in ideology, he is also not shy to brandish an anti-Hindu mindset.

Hindus should actually be thankful to Joseph Vijay for making that clear.

This writer has forgotten the year but the lesson from the following episode is still relevant. The famous writer ‘Sujata’ who was then in charge of the popular Tamil weekly, Kumudam, asked one celebrity every week to be editor-in-charge of the magazine. Vijay was an upcoming star at the time; or rather he was busy acting in what were almost B-grade movies. This writer was surprised that even then he had expressed subtle anti-BJP statements in that magazine.

He has been growing in popularity since then and largely keeping his political views under wraps. However once, during the heydays of the UPA, when Rahul Gandhi invited Vijay for a meeting, the latter described it as a god-sent opportunity.

In his films, Vijay has been carefully crafting an image to rival Rajinikanth's, and it's safe to say he has largely succeeded in doing so. He also has a keen understanding of public sentiment.

Vijay was among the first ones to be aware of the disappointment in the vulnerable-to-movie-charisma segment of the population that had eagerly awaited Rajinikanth's entry into politics. The ‘superstar’ Rajini earned notoriety for delaying his decision. When some Hindutva strategists tried to draw him into Tamil Nadu politics to leverage his charisma, he wisely chose not to enter the political arena.

It is into this vacuum that Vijay stepped in.

Vijay happens to be an unabashed Catholic who wears his faith honestly on his sleeves. It so happens that Tamil Nadu politics has a Catholic presence that has been increasing dramatically and even strategically. It could be pure coincidence. It may be too much of a stretch to claim a conspiracy.

In India, the Catholic Church has actively encouraged a racial, Dravidian and pseudo-puritanic Tamil deconstruction of Hinduism. It is also a fact that Seeman, the pseudo-Tamil puritan leader, who admires Hitler and is quite popular among a considerable section of Tamil youths, is a Catholic. Joseph Vijay is a Catholic, and Jegath Gaspar Raj, a pro-DMK political strategist, is a Catholic priest who wields lot of power inside the Church.

Seeman, Jegath Gaspar, and now Joseph Vijay, besides being loyal to the Catholic Church, consistently try to disconnect popular Hindu cultural and spiritual symbols from Hindu Dharma. It's notable that as the Church began incorporating Hindu elements like the dhwaja-stambha, Seeman started sporting a vibhuti.

Jagath Gaspar started appropriating Hindu spiritual elements like Thiruvasagam, as folk traditions. If one takes the trouble of going through the unwatchable Vijay movies, one can find that in all the characters he plays, he sports Hindu elements prominently. Such image management will likely suffice to convince the Hindus under the sway of Dravidianism in Tamil Nadu.

But now, by explicitly stating his stand against the CAA, Vijay has sent out a clear signal. The clarity of Vijay's vision is astonishing.

His first obstructions are those working towards Hindu consolidation in Tamil Nadu and the rest of India.

That is the reason why this writer welcomes Vijay not wishing Hindu Tamils a new year after he started his political party. By doing this he has helped remove any doubts about the real nature of his politics.

There can be no more delusion about his motives. Even now, if Hindus think of him as a politician sympathetic to their sentiments, you cannot blame Vijay for dishonesty.