The communists consider Lenin as a socialist. This is understandable, as communists always say that to bring equality, make the rich poor and not the other way round. But, the fact remains, he suppressed all dissent and his regime indulged in mass killings. Do we really need to have the statue of such a figure? Look at the reaction from secularists on his statue being removed. Mani Shankar Aiyar removed the photo of Veer Savarkar from the Cellular Jail in Andaman. And to think Veer Savarkar is an Indian, albeit of a different ideology, who certainly fought for Indian independence in his own way by being true to his ideology. He, any day, is a better human being than Lenin. As for Periyar, suffice it to say the Brahmins in TN will certainly have a completely different tale to narrate. Even today, groups owing allegiance to Periyar’s ideology, harass the Brahmin community at the drop of a hat. Well, everyone looks at history differently. It is reported that the statue of EVR has been defaced by miscreants on the basis of certain comments by H Raja. Instead of taking action against him, the D K cadre has preferred to target the Brahmin group. They have inflicted personal attacks on poor Brahmins in Chennai and cut the sacred thread (poonool) and also cut the tuft on their head. This action is highly condemnable and needs drastic action since it is provocative. While the disfiguring of the statue is highlighted by media repeatedly, the attack on a minority community innocent is not given any importance. Brahmins are a minority community and protection of minority groups has not been done by the government. When other so called minority community gets support and benefits, why the Brahmins are left out? On behalf of the Brahmin community, I request that we are given necessary protection and support. I guess now we need to add non-living beings like statues to the list of protected species under “ahimsa” even though Lenin in his days did not blink an eye in the cold blooded killing of Tsars and their family.
K.E. Eshwaran iyer
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
