In a gruesome incident, DMK cadre were seen beheading a goat on camera and celebrating the BJP’s loss. The ‘beheading’ was symbolically targeted at state BJP president and former IPS officer K Annamalai. The party workers had pasted a picture of Annamalai on the goat’s body before beheading it on the road and hooting in joy.
DMK members slaughtered a goat on picture of Annamalai to celebrate their victory in Coimbatore.
— Mute hindu🤐 { Yogi ka parivar } (@Mute_hindu) June 6, 2024
This is pure hatred. This action is more than just simple beheading.
Annamalai is a son of a farmer & his family rear goats. In the past, DMK has mocked Annamalai over Goat farming. pic.twitter.com/BqTCcIIX82
On June 4, the DMK cadre in Coimbatore had held a victory march carrying a goat with a picture of Annamalai pasted on it. They declared that since Annamalai had been defeated, there will be ‘goat biriyani’ made.
Mutton biriyani was prepared and distributed to DMK workers and supporters to celebrate their victory in Coimbatore.
Celebrating the setback for TN BJP Chief @annamalai_k in #Coimbatore #TamilNadu, #DMK cadre parade a goat (hinting at #Annamalai ) at their party HQ in #chennai
— Sidharth.M.P (@sdhrthmp) June 4, 2024
DMK had earlier said it would be "Goat Biriyani" in Coimbatore..
(BJP State Prez is 2nd and trails by 24K votes) pic.twitter.com/Gc00Xsu3Qv
DMK uses the ‘goat’ (Aadu in Tamil) as a derogatory reference for K Annamalai because the BJP president belongs to a humble farming family that raises goats. Earlier, Annamalai had said before media that he owns no properties, except a few goats.
Responding to DMK’s constant mocking of him as ‘goat’, Annamalai had acknowledged that his family rears goats and his parents have raised him by selling goats. So he feels no shame in being compared to goats.
The goat reference by DMK for K Annamalai is also to counter his popularity as the ‘Singham’ (lion) in Karnataka where he was posted as Deputy Commissioner of Police in South Bengaluru.
On June 4, which also happened to be Annamalai’s birthday, he lost to DMK’s Ganapathy Rajkumar J from the Coimbatore Lok Sabha seat.
The ‘symbolic beheading’ has a wider political context
The symbolic ‘beheading’ of K Annamalai by DMK supporters in Tamil Nadu is not a singular incident. There have been many similar incidents where political rivals paste pictures of their opponents in effigies, animals to display the brutal mentality of public murder. In 2022, disturbingly realistic effigies of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, wearing saree and with her photo pasted on it, were ‘hung in public squares’ in Belgavi, Karnataka, in the same manner the Taliban and other Islamic radical groups punish anyone they do not like.
In 2021, the PFI had organised a rally in Kerala’s Tenhipalam town where they displayed the symbolic massacre of Hindus, by parading chained and bound individuals dressed in RSS uniform. 2021 was the centenary year of the Malabar massacre of Hindus.
The symbolic displays of violent acts may not be a crime on their own, but when done and supported by political groups they perpetrate a dangerous idea of mob justice and brutality, that eventually gets accepted by the masses. The political parties, by supporting such ‘symbolic’ acts of violence, indirectly tell their cadre and supporters that “one day, this will be ok, this will be celebrated.”
