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A police complaint has been lodged against popular Tamil YouTubers Gopi and Sudhakar for their satirical sketch ridiculing caste supremacy.
The skit, titled Society Paavangal, was a response to the recent brutal caste killing of 27-year-old Dalit youth Kavin Selvaganesh in Tirunelveli district. The video aired on the duo’s Parithabangal channel on August 4 and has clocked over 5 lakh views.
The complaint accuses the YouTubers of “inciting violence” and “provoking social conflict”. They have made demands for the skit to be taken down and for legal action to be initiated against Gopi and Sudhakar. The complaint also claims that the skit poses a threat to “social harmony and public order”.
The complainant, Karthik Dhanushkodi, is a lawyer from the Mukkulathor community. The accused in Kavin’s murder, Sujith, belongs to the Maravar caste. Maravars, Agamudayars and Kallars jointly refer to themselves as Thevars or Mukulathor. Maravars are categorised as Denotified Community (DNC) in some districts, such as Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi, and as Other Backward Class (OBC) in other districts.
The caste cluster wields significant political power in Tamil Nadu.
However, many, including the rationalist organisation Dravida Kazhagam (DK), have spoken out in support of Gopi and Sudhakar.
Society Paavangal lampoons caste supremacist ideals and the glorification of violence by powerful dominant caste groups. It also mocks the propagation of revisionist histories that many dominant castes practise to whip up anti-Dalit sentiments.
Further, the skit points out how dominant caste leaders encourage young people in their communities to oppose inter-caste relationships. Such practises are what lead to so-called ‘honour’ killings, the skit emphasises.
The murders of inter-caste couples are widely referred to as ‘honour’ killings. Kavin was reportedly in a relationship with Surjith’s sister.
Society Paavangal ridicules this regressive notion of honour based on imagined caste purity.
One segment of the skit makes direct reference to Kavin’s murder. Surjith allegedly threw chilli powder on Kavin’s face before hacking him to death.
Scorning such violence, the skit includes dialogues such as “Throwing chilli powder and then hacking someone is not bravery.” This line is followed up with, “You should have given him the sickle so that you could have both faced off against each other.”
The skit also criticised sympathy videos for Surjith that are circulating on social media, presenting Kavin’s murder as a “dispute” between two families and not between communities. These videos effectively deny the role of caste in the crime.
However, the sketch does not name any particular community.
Reacting to the skit, Karthik Dhanushkodi, a Thevar lawyer, filed a complaint with the Coimbatore Commissioner of Police on August 6, seeking action against Sudhakar and Gopi. He claimed that the YouTubers had portrayed the Mukkulathor in a “demeaning manner”.
Karthik also claimed that the skit’s dialogues about chilli powder “incite violence” and “provoke social conflict”. He further said in his complaint that Society Paavangal tarnishes the character, traditions, and social standing of Mukulathors.
“Continuous circulation of this video online risks creating false perceptions about our community among the younger generation, causing distress to Mukulathor youth and potentially leading to unnecessary law-and-order problems. This is an act against social harmony,” the complaint read.
He further complained that the skit is garnering lakhs of views. “People are not only watching and sharing this video, but various other videos based on it are also being uploaded,” Karthik said.
Several anticaste social media handles have generated memes based on Society Pavangal, criticising the caste supremacy of intermediate castes.
“Preventive measures must also be taken to ensure that such antisocial acts do not occur in the future. Failure to remove such content without delay could create a serious crisis for social harmony and public order,” Karthik claimed.
Film producer AM Choudary Thevar also objected to the skit’s apparent ridicule of the public disturbances Thevar youth cause during ‘Guru Pujai’ road shows.
“You are ridiculing the character who is being trained to hack a man to death. Then who is giving training to them [Dalits] to love a person from a different caste?” Choudary said in a statement. He added that inter-caste relationships are “wrong”. Accusing Sudhakar and Gopi of hypocrisy, Choudary claimed, “Only if you question this, you will be seen as a fair person."
Meanwhile, Society Paavangal has been widely appreciated by many, including filmmaker CS Amudhan, known for his parody films like Tamizh Padam (2010) and Tamizh Padam 2 (2018).
Expressing solidarity with Gopi and Sudhakar, the DK has filed a counter complaint with the Coimbatore police. They have sought action against the individuals threatening violence against the YouTubers and also demanded police protection.