Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai has come under fire for his use of the casteist term ‘pariah’ on his Twitter handle, with a resident of Thachanallur in Tirunelveli district requesting the city Police Commissioner to register a case against the leader in this regard. The complainant, Murugan, pointed out in his petition that though the word ‘pariah’ is used worldwide to denote oppressed people, in the Indian context, it is a derogatory term used to refer to lower caste groups — formerly known as untouchables. Annamalai had used the term in a tweet on Monday, May 30, praising eight years of the Narendra Modi-led Union government.
“As a former IPS officer and the BJP president, Annamalai is well aware of Indian society and the law. Despite being a person with social responsibilities, he repeatedly posts insulting comments against one particular community on social media platforms. By doing this, he is paving the way for further encouragement of caste and social disharmony in the society. To prevent any further such behaviour, Annamalai should be booked under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,” Murugan stated in his petition.
The complainant pointed out to TNM over phone that even after being called out, Annamalai did not apologise for his statement, but instead chose to explain the meaning of the usage. “This only shows his arrogance. The commissioner's office has forwarded my complaint to the cybercrime for further action,” said Murugan, a VCK supporter. "BJP leaders always want to be at the centre of attraction. They want people to talk about them all the time. Annamalai can also be at the centre of media and public attention if he wants. But this should be achieved by doing the right things for people. All he does is deliberate negative work.”
On Monday, K Annamalai had taken to Twitter to appreciate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the country’s growth of India over the past eight years. One of the phrases he mentioned in the tweet was “From a pariah to a ViswaGuru (sic)", drawing backlash from political leaders of various quarters. Many demanded an unconditional apology from the bureaucrat turned politician.
From hopelessness to Hope
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) May 30, 2022
From parochial mindset to Nation First
From dilly dallying to Conviction
From one sided to Holistic Development
From a pariah to a ViswaGuru
From Dark to Light
8 years & counting with Shri @narendramodi avl as our first servant! #8YearsOfSeva pic.twitter.com/RwnS7z2kNh
VCK deputy general secretary Vanni Arasu was among those who condemned the tweet. “It was Hinduism that neglected the Pariah community, as they were against the Varnas. Annamalai should seek apologies for the derogatory comment he made,” he tweeted.
Annamalai later put up another tweet explaining the word ‘pariah’, sharing a screenshot of a Macmillan Dictionary page that defines the word as “a person, organisation or country that others dislike and avoid”. He also mentioned the adage "pen is mightier than the sword" in the tweet, further asking people to "look at the meaning of the word (he) used”. Despite its worldwide usage, however, the term is widely considered a casteist slur and as derogatory to Dalits in the Tamil language.
Years ago in 1995, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had made headlines for calling LTTE leader V Prabhakaran an ‘international pariah’, following which the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha's government filed a case against the former under the Protection of Civil Rights Act.
The usage of ‘pariah’ has also sparked controversy in countries other than India. This includes former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s upsetting of the Malaysian Tamil community in 2015. While pressuring then Prime Minister Najib Razak to resign, he wrote in his blog that "in the eyes of the world Malaysia has become a pariah state". In 2019, he again used the term to comment on the Lynas Malaysia Corporation, following which the Indian communities in Malaysia condemned his repeated usage of the word.
Very recently, after Russia invaded Ukraine, the US President Joe Biden had also referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin an “international pariah”. He had said that Putin's actions would cost Russia dearly, and leave him a ‘pariah’. Across the world, terms such as international pariah or the global pariah state are used to denote international isolation and economic sanctions.