NTK chief under fire for calling Muslims, Christians 'Satan’s children'

Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK) chief S Seeman has always been known for making sweeping and controversial remarks against linguistic communities of Tamil Nadu, while aggressively pursuing his Tamil identity politics. But this time, Seeman has come under fire for calling minorities – Muslims and Christians – as “Satan’s children” for their political preference of continuously voting for the DMK and Congress.

Despite all-round condemnation from several organisations and political parties representing the minority communities, Seeman went on the offensive seeking to know whether Muslims and Christians will start “voting for me if I apologise for my statement.”

Read | Twitter accounts of Seeman, Thirumurugan Gandhi withheld

He also went on to say minorities should be classified only on the basis of language and ethnicity and not on religion, while calling Muslims and Christians as “children of Mother Tamil.”

While condemning Seeman’s statement, political parties accused the NTK leader of treading a “dangerous path” by speaking the “BJP’s language” in Tamil Nadu, which has been a “haven for religious unity and harmony.”

Though Seeman, who eulogises now-defunct LTTE chief V Prabhakaran, is critical of the BJP most times, he comes under constant attack from Tamil political parties of toeing the saffron party’s line, terming his outfit as “fascist” which seeks for othering of certain communities.

In a video that has gone viral now, Seeman said though his party was lending its voice to people who have been affected by violence in several areas, including in Manipur, none of them have voted for him.

“Christians here also won’t vote for us. It is only we who believe that Christians and Muslims are God’s children, but it has been a long time since they became Satan’s children. They should take responsibility for maximum atrocities in the country as Muslims and Christians accounting for 18 percent of the electorate voted for the DMK and Congress,” Seeman added.

It was the Muslims and Christians who should be blamed for “corruption, and maladministration” of the DMK and Congress over the decades, the NTK chief further alleged. Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) chief and MLA Prof M H Jawahirullah accused Seeman of acting as the “mouthpiece” of the BJP and Sangh Parivar.

“In the name of protests, Seeman is spewing hate in the minds of people. His comments are unwarranted and he should apologise for his remarks,” Jawahirullah said. ‘Nellai’ Mubarak, state president of SDPI, also demanded an apology from Seeman for his remarks that demeaned a community.

However, NTK strongly defended Seeman, saying his remarks are “nothing but truth.”

Senior journalist R Bhagwan Singh said the accusations that Seeman is “BJP’s B-team” gets only strengthened as he seems to prescribe a non-inclusive politics, which even the saffron party is “scared” of propagating in the “Dravidian” Tamil Nadu.

“Seeman is irresponsibly robust in his socio-political utterances, including his assertion that no non-Tamil should become the state’s Chief Minister. This seems to be the latest page in his cry seeking attention even if it stoked extreme controversy and hatred,” Singh added.

Seeman, an actor- director, launched NTK in 2010 after the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka the previous year to “reclaim” the Tamil land and is considered the most controversial politician in the state for a slew of issues, including idolising now-defunct LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran and his policy that political power should be vested only with “native Tamils” and not “outsiders.”

Though many of Seeman's policies sound impractical and absurd at times, NTK's acceptance among people is growing – from a mere 1.1 percent vote share in its debut elections in 2016, the party secured nearly 4 percent votes in 2019 Lok Sabha polls and increased it to 6.7 per cent in 2021 assembly polls, emerging as the third largest party in terms of vote share.