DMK vs RSS in Tamil Nadu: Denial of permission for march gives Sangh ‘huge mileage’, says Annamalai

Chennai: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government’s decision to stall the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) route march in Tamil Nadu has given “huge mileage” for the RSS in the state, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K. Annamalai said. 

This comes at a time when on Tuesday the DMK government approached the Supreme Court challenging the Madras High Court order, which granted permission to the RSS to carry out route marches across the state.

The Sangh planned nationwide route marches on 2 October to mark Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, which was denied permission by the government, leading to a legal battle.

“The DMK government made a non-issue into an issue and has given the RSS a huge mileage across Tamil Nadu. The RSS has come out as a major winner in this case,”  Annamalai claimed. 

RSS’ visible growth in Tamil Nadu

The RSS has had presence in the state since the 1940s, but was limited to few districts, including Coimbatore and Tirupur. However, in the past five years, it gained ground in the Dravidian state with more people enrolling as members and attending the shakas. 

According to Annamalai, the number of people joining the Sangh has increased four times. “I was shown some statistics by a senior pracharak. JoinRSS website, the portal used for joining the Sangh, has seen a rise in registration…four times. Even the shakha strength and regular participation has gone up,” he told ThePrint.

In 2017, 1,684 people registered through JoinRSS portal, which, in 2022, went up to 3,359, B. Narasimhan, RSS state secretary media wing, told ThePrint. The number of shakhas rose to 2,060 in 2020 from 1,355 in 2015. 

“This is not all, there are people who have directly come to the shaka meetings and have joined as members,” Narasimhan added. 

Describing the change and growing reach of the Sangh, senior political analyst Priyan told ThePrint that, five years ago, if there were four people participating in a Sunday shaka, there are around 40 now. “Whether people accept them or not, a resistance against them by the Dravidian ideology is continuing.”  

“The RSS is taking all steps to ensure not just the BJP’s success in Tamil Nadu, but to also deepen its own root as a political organisation,” Prof. Ramu Manivanan, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Madras, told ThePrint.

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Political resistance to RSS route march 

The governments in Tamil Nadu — be it DMK or All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) — have shown resistance towards the RSS and its route marches, senior Sangh workers claimed.

According to RSS’ Seva Bharati state president B. Rabu Manoharan, former AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa was very sure that she would not allow route marches or the BJP to make inroads into the state as there was a common vote bank. “She wanted to be the Hindutva icon.”

Despite the government’s resistance, he added, the RSS got permission for route marches on several occasions, including in 2017 and 2018 during the AIADMK rule. 

Two years after the 1998 Coimbatore blast, the RSS wanted to conduct a route march in the district. Though this was widely opposed by political parties, the then DMK government did grant permission for the same. 

“The RSS march was permitted by the DMK patriarch and then chief minister M. Karunanidhi. Though the DMK was in alliance with the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP, the main reason why Karunanidhi granted the permission was that the RSS was not a banned organisation, and in a democracy, you cannot stop an organisation from propagating or conducting its functions,” Priyan said. 

DMK government’s resistance now

According to political analysts, the RSS-DMK confrontation in a way is aiding the Sangh’s cause. “When you try to stall a march, it becomes a talking point. And when it becomes so, the outfit uses it to spread its ideology,” Priyan said. 

The DMK has to sensitively handle the whole situation, Priyan said, adding that there are multiple points that it should consider. 

Priyan explained that “the DMK can’t directly grant permission as it will be criticised by its own alliances. To avoid this, it is taking legal course, because then it only has to implement the court’s direction.” 

The law-and-order situation is another big hurdle, which if turns volatile during the march, will be another major issue, which the government will try to avert, he added.  

The political parties, meanwhile, alleged that the route march would only create communal issues in Tamil Nadu.

“The RSS is trying to spread communal hatred and it is an elected government’s duty to prevent communal hatred. The steps taken by the DMK are only for that,” Congress MP Manickam Tagore told ThePrint.

Referring to the clashes between the ABVP and JNU Students’ Union, DMK former MP and spokesperson TKS Elangovan told ThePrint: “The RSS only creates communal issues. People are against the outfit in Tamil Nadu, is a well-known fact. The organisation has been against the Tamils, their beliefs, and against Periyar.”

“The government is trying to confront us,” said Manoharan, who is leading the Sangh’s legal battle against the DMK government.

“If people in Tamil Nadu see who we are, then they will accept us. The government wants to paint us as violent. Both AIADMK and DMK want to paint us black and blue to appease minorities and are projecting us as anti-minorities.” 

Annamalai, meanwhile, said the DMK government has to maintain law and order. “Here it shows the CM and the police are not capable of maintaining law and order and handle a simple route march. The Supreme Court will come heavily on the government and will condemn the state for its inefficiency.” 

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Legal battle for route march

The RSS, which planned to take out nationwide route marches on 2 October, was denied permission by the DMK government. It approached the high court, which, in September 2022, allowed the march. 

The state denied permission to the RSS, despite the court order in the last week of September stating law and order concerns.

The Sangh then approached with a contempt of court petition. After hearing the plea, the HC asked the government to provide permission for the march on an alternate date of RSS’ choice, but with reasonable restrictions. 

The rescheduled date announced by the RSS was 6 November 2022, but it was allowed public marches only at three locations against 50 it sought for, and in 23 places it was asked to carry out indoor processions.

Citing intelligence input, police denied permission for marches at 24 other places. After conducting marches in the three places, a further appeal was made for the remaining 47. On 10 February, the HC ordered the police to give nod to the route marches. 

“Ours is an organisation which saw through the British rule, the Emergency, you can never suppress us,” Manoharan, said adding that the RSS would continue legal proceedings. 

(Edited by Richa Mishra)

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