'It's Complicated': Tamil Scholar Held for Speech Against Modi, Shah Was Popular Cong Face in Rajiv Gandhi-era

Chennai:A 75-year-old Tamil scholar has been arrested after delivering an allegedly provocative speech against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah at an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rally, with his remarks triggering clamorous protests by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). And while the saffron party has pointed to Nellai Kannan’s long association with the Congress, observers say the orator’s political trajectory is complicated.

Speaking at the event organised by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) at the weekend to protest against the revised citizenship law, Kannan allegedly said that he was puzzled why people had not yet “finished off” Modi and Shah. The CAA makes it easier to grant citizenship to non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The BJP has pitched it as an attempt to correct “historical wrongs” committed during Partition. However, critics say the law discriminates against Muslims and fails the constitutional principles of secularism and equality.

Kannan was arrested and produced before a court in Tirunelveli on Thursday, which remanded him to judicial custody for 12 days. He will have to be produced in court on January 13 and till then has been directed to be taken to Madurai prison.

Based on a complaint lodged by BJP leaders, an FIR was registered against him under sections 504, 505 and 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code, which deal with the provoking of breach of public peace and inciting of hatred.

Kannan was admitted to a private hospital after he complained of health issues on Tuesday. Police took him into custody the next evening from a guesthouse in Perambalur district, about 300 kilometres from Chennai. The BJP had held a massive protest rally to demand the scholar’s immediate arrest at the Marina Beach. The Tamil Nadu unit of the Congress maintains that he is not a member of the party anymore.

Kannan was born into a farming family and, observers say, he was drawn to the Tamil language from his childhood days as he frequently participated in pattimandrams, or debates.

He later joined the Congress as he was an admirer of late party leader and Tamil Nadu chief minister K Kamaraj. He campaigned for the Congress during actor-turned-politician Sivaji Ganesan’s political journey. Once, Ganesan, who was to address a public rally in Tirunelveli district, reached five hours late, and it was Kannan who kept the audience engaged till the star arrived.

Kannan held several key posts within the Congress, including general secretary of the party’s Tamil Nadu unit and deputy leader of the party.

Whenever the Congress party contested alone, he did too. He fought the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly polls from the Tirunelveli constituency. Kannan contested from the Chepauk seat against Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M Karunanidhi in 1996. This was the period when the state’s now-ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) was in alliance with the Congress and the late J Jayalalithaa campaigned for him.

In 1992, when there was an opening in Rajya Sabha, Nellai Kannan’s name came up alongside Jayanthi Natarajan’s. However, the Congress finally picked Natarajan for the post.

Kannan was a prominent leader of the Tamil Nadu Congress during the time of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who had even visited the scholar’s home in Tirunelveli for lunch.

However, Kannan joined the AIADMK for a brief period in 2006 and also campaigned for the party across the state. But, he returned to the Congress a year later.

Observers say Kannan’s political journey has been unclear for the past few years as he has been lying low. He has participated in a few reality shows in recent times.

Kannan has been a tough critic of the BJP-led central government and its policies. Political analyst N Sathiya Moorthy said, “No doubt, he was a Congress man and continues to wear khaadi, but many of his public speeches over the past several years have expressed his continued disenchantment with the party. In a very popular YouTube video, he is seen running down every community, religious and caste group and how they are used to exploit people. He has not spared the Christian and Muslim groups in his native Tirunelveli district.”