Pigs to flaunt sacred thread to mark protest against Brahminism, BJP in Tamil Nadu

A group in Chennai will make pigs wear sacred thread to protest against Brahminism on August 7.

Chennai, July 25: The Brahmins, considered to be upper caste by the majority Hindu population in the country, wear a sacred white thread around their bodies, to claim their superior position in society for long.

The white sacred thread, worn by Brahmin men, has become a symbol of Brahminism and their entitlements in the country. While many Brahmins still revere the sacred thread a lot, people belonging to other castes, mostly the Dalits and other backward castes, who have long been discriminated by the upper castes, view the thread as a totem of Brahminical tyranny.

It is in this regard an organisation from Tamil Nadu, Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK), is hosting a protest against Brahminism by making pigs wear the sacred thread. The protest event will be hosted at the Sanskrit College in Chennai on August 7.

For the uninitiated, the reason behind using pigs in the protest is to "compare the Brahmins with pigs". In Hindu society, pigs are considered to be lowly and dirty as they mostly live on muddy and swampy areas to hunt for their food.

The event titled "Panrikku Poonool podum porattum" will be hosted on August 7, as it is observed as Avani Avittam--a sacred day for Brahmins in Tamil Nadu.

"The Brahmins wear the poonool (sacred thread) because they want to differentiate themselves from other castes and make themselves seem superior," S Kumaran, Chennai president of the TPDK, was quoted as saying by The News Minute.

"By default, society views being compared to a pig as an insult and so we decided to use the animal," he added.

The protest against Brahminism also has a political side to it. "With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in power at the Centre, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is basically a Brahmin outfit, has gained too much power. This is aimed at countering any effort to suppress the lower castes," said Kumaran.

The supporters of TPDK have painted several walls across Chennai to invite people to the anti-Brahmin protest.

Naturally, leaders of right-wing parties are unhappy with the upcoming protest.

"How can you ridicule something that is very personal to a community? If they think the sacred thread doesn't make anyone superior, why even protest against it?" asked BJP youth wing president for Tamil Nadu, SG Suryah.

"They are also forgetting that it is not just Brahmins who wear this thread," he added.

The TPDK is known for its protest against the Hindu religion and its "discriminatory" customs. The TPDK members tried to burn effigies of Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana to symbolically show opposition to "Aryan invasion", last year.

OneIndia News