In this episode on South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran and Pooja Prasanna first discuss the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. They are joined by The Deccan Herald’s Assistant Editor Sivapriyan and journalist and translator Kavitha Muralidharan.
Dhanya starts the discussion by pointing out how, in Kerala, there is no specific wave, and asks if there is a political wave in Tamil Nadu this time.
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“The DMK has done a lot of groundwork in the last five years. They seem to have a slight advantage in terms of reaching out to the people and the alliance chemistry. But the AIADMK is also fast catching up. With respect to Vijay and TVK, it is not easy to gauge what the impact will be. He is also hitting the road for aggressive campaigning. He could be between 15-20%, and he may affect all political parties in the state, not just DMK. But only results will tell us which party will be more affected by Vijay’s party,” says Sivapriyan.
Pooja says that Vijay’s votes seem scattered across constituencies, and people who may have traditionally voted for DMK or AIADMK may be voting for TVK, convinced by the younger voters.
“I do not understand why people are considering voting for Vijay. We have seen him in different avatars, and people seem to accept it without any qualms. This is surprising. It also makes me wonder if personality politics, which we thought ended with MGR, has really ended or not. Even intellectuals seem to have some kind of soft corner for him. This makes one wonder if TN is going towards personality-oriented politics. One other factor is the depoliticisation of students owing to the state’s ban on campuses. This may push younger voters to go after the silver screen personality of Vijay,” says Kavitha.
Sivapriyan also says that the DMK has not taken any effort to make younger voters sensitised to Dravidian politics, owing to the largely apolitical youngsters being unaware of the state’s Dravidian history.
Dhanya says that 20% of TN voters are youngsters. She asks whether, even if they turn up and decide that they want to have a new leadership, or sort of experiment, youngsters are really unaware of political history?
“Dravidian ideology has trickled down in various ways. But the reason youngsters could be turning away may be that they want change or want to rebel against traditional political choices,” adds Pooja.
Sivapriyan says that the DMK has revamped and thrived in the language issue and the sanathana issues that have come up. “DMK is trying to make it seem like TN is an anti-BJP state, but the youngsters are not concerned with ideologies. What propels them is the fatigue over these Dravidian parties, I think. But growth is happening in terms of manufacturing and other things. There is corruption and nepotism, yes, but still, the claim that TN has not grown in the last ten years is not true. Not many youngsters are equipped to counter such claims made by Vijay,” he explains.
The panel then goes into the BJP’s strategy in Tamil Nadu, what the four fronts in the state lack, each one’s welfare promises, and how all of this may impact the upcoming elections.
In the second segment of the episode, the hosts discuss the verdict in the Sathankulam police station case in which Bennix and Jayaraj were tortured to death. A court in Madurai gave the death penalty to nine police officers, and the hosts go into the details of the verdict.
They are joined by Anisha Sheth, TNM’s Karnataka Bureau Chief.
Dhanya recalls how the reason this verdict was given is the number of witnesses who testified in court, including two women police officers, a prisoner who shared space with Bennix, and so on. She asks Anisha how rare such a punishment for police officers is.
“Conviction itself in police brutality cases is rare. In Thoothukudi in 1989, nine cops were given life sentences, and the Madras HC upheld this. While some cops have been convicted, the death penalty has not been imposed before. It is irrelevant if we support the death penalty or if it will be upheld in higher courts, but this will be a strong deterrent,” Anisha says.
She also speaks about the telltale signs of custodial torture, like fractures and difficulty walking, which are given standard explanations. “It is ridiculous how Magistrates do not question or notice these things,” she adds.
Pooja says that the conviction itself is huge, considering how much impunity most police officers enjoy. “Police think it is their job to use force and control people rather than protect the rights of people. The way the police function in this country needs a relook. It is also the investigation of such cases because they are interrogating themselves. Political will and judicial steadfastness are important here,” she says.
Dhanya says that political will is crucial. “Several CMs also have been subservient to the police. But even in this case, there was severe outrage. Had that not been the case, we do not know if this case would have been taken as seriously,” she adds.
Anisha says finding data on such incidents is difficult as well. “In Parliament, recently, an MP asked for numbers on custody deaths, and TN was in single digits. But other researchers have found a much larger number of cases. In the other states, the numbers come from NHRC data and NCRB, which are collected in different timelines. These are complaints they get, based on compensation awarded. Unless someone tracks what happened in each case, we cannot know the outcomes,” she explains.
The panel delves into how violence is normalised, systemic impunity is given to police, and how data remains muddled in the absence of respect for human rights.
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Audio Timecodes
00:00:00 - Introductions
00:02:25 - Headlines
00:09:17 - Tamil Nadu Elections
00:46:56 - Bennix-Jayaraj Case
01:03:46 - Recommendations
References
Inside Bengaluru apartments, sudden construction of temples sparks debate
‘Gamekeeper became poacher’: What the court said in Jeyaraj-Bennik’s custodial murder
Death sentence for 9 cops who tortured and killed Benniks and Jeyaraj in Sathankulam
In Bengaluru, families of prisoners are coming together to resist police harassment
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Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Jaseem Ali.