Former TNCC president E.V.K.S. Elangovan’s tirade against music director Ilaiyaraaja for his comparison of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with B.R. Ambedkar has gone viral on social media.
Speaking at an event in Erode recently, Mr. Elangovan had charged that someone who had accepted the Communist ideology when he was struggling for food and living below the poverty line, was now identifying himself as upper caste after earning money and fame.
“I am talking about Ilaiyaraaja. He’s above 80 years of age, but calls himself ‘Ilaiyaraaja’. In the beginning, you [Ilaiyaraaja] sang about workers’ welfare. But now, you have become a ‘bhaktimaan’. It is your right. But what is the meaning of comparing Ambedkar and Modi,” he said. He should instead compare Mr. Modi with Hitler and Mussolini, Mr. Elangovan charged.
‘Insult to Ambedkar’
Mr. Elangovan said Ambedkar wanted castes to be abolished and embraced Buddhism. He said Ambedkar worked for the uplift of the downtrodden and oppressed castes and Ilaiyaraaja’s comparison was an insult to Ambedkar. “Ilayaraja is the man who had refused to compose music for the movie on Periyar. He thinks of himself as Shankaracharya? Even Shankaracharya was sent to jail here,” the Congress leader said.
Ranjith flays comments
Director Pa. Ranjith condemned Mr. Elangovan’s statement and asked if it was the right way for Dravidar Kazhagam’s K. Veeramani to criticise Ilaiyaraja by applauding [Elangovan’s statements]? “It is highly condemnable that such a statement was made on Periyar’s stage,” he said in a tweet.
