After Kabali director Pa Ranjith's blistering speech at an event to condole the suicide of Anitha, actor and politician SVe Shekher criticised the director for bringing up caste in the NEET issue.
In his speech, Ranjith, who comes from a Dalit family, had said that Tamil people are still divided by caste and that we cannot claim that 'Tamil' is a unified identity.
The director was reacting to filmmaker Ameer who, like many others, was arguing that Anitha's caste identity was irrelevant to the discussion and that Tamil Nadu was unified in its opposition to the controversial common medical entrance exam.
Tweeting sarcastically that he wanted to express his salutations to Ranjith who had declared himself as a Dalit and not Tamilian, SVe Shekher added that Ranjith was stating his caste with pride.
""தன்னை தமிழன் என்று சொல்லாமல் தலித் என்று சொல்லும் ரஞ்சித்."" தன் ஜாதியை பெருமையாக சொல்லும் ரஞ்சித்திற்கு வாழ்த்துக்களும் வணக்கங்களும்
— S.VE.SHEKHER (@SVESHEKHER) September 9, 2017
Anitha was allegedly depressed because she was denied a medical seat despite scoring high marks in her board exams. Anitha belongs to the Dalit community and several people, including celebrities from Kollywood, have slammed the media for acknowledging the fact, believing that it is an insult to her memory.
SVe Shekher, too, displays the same ignorance about the term 'Dalit' and what it stands for in his tweet.
Pa Ranjith responded to the accusation on caste pride thus: "Dalit is not a caste, it's a liberating concept to eliminate Aryan-casteism."
தலித் என்பது சாதியல்ல, ஆரியம்- சாதியம் ஒழிக்கும் விடுதலைக் கருத்தியல்.
— pa.ranjith (@beemji) September 10, 2017
Though the Aryan invasion theory has been questioned, the term is often used to refer to Brahminism and caste oppression.
The term 'Dalit' was introduced by social reformer Jyotirao Phule to describe those who were deemed 'untouchable' by savarna Hindus. It's a politically aware term that recognises the historic and continued oppression of the community and refuses to accept status quo.