Controversy broke out after the managing director of the popular restaurant chain Adyar Ananda Bhavan, KT Srinivasa Raja, said that it was now possible for people from all castes to open vegetarian restaurants because of Dravidian leader and reformist Periyar. Srinivasa had been speaking in a video interview with writer Chitra Lakshmanan. When he was asked, “At one time, when it came to vegetarian restaurants, they were run entirely by Iyengars. That has slowly changed. How did that happen?” Srinivasa Raja had replied, “The reason for any caste being able to take up any trade is Thanthai Periyar. He changed the practice of kuzha thozhil (caste-based occupation). Times changed, the government offered support through loan schemes etc, and now anyone can take up a trade that had been the occupation of only one particular community.”
Srinivasa’s interview is from a four-part series on the success story of Adyar Ananda Bhavan by the show Chai with Chitra. The first video of the interview was telecast on the YouTube channel Social Talkies on October 8. Subsequently, the channel released three more episodes a day, until October 11.
Hindu right wing groups including the Hindu Makkal Katchi have taken issue with Srinivasa’s comments and have in support of Brahmins, called for a boycott of Adyar Ananda Bhavan ahead of the festive season. On the other hand, many have also come out in support of Srinivasa and the restaurant chain. Right wing groups in Tamil Nadu are historically opposed to Periyar’s ideals as he had pushed for rationalist values and radical ways to advocate for social reform in Hinduism.
One X user said that "Sri Krishna Sweets, Akshayam, Santhi Sweets, Nandhiniee Sweets, Ganga Sweets, Gupta Bhavan, Gangotree Sweets, Grand Sweets and Snacks, Suriya Sweets, Shree Anandhas are some of the alternates for A2B if you are interested.” They further claimed that many of these restaurants could be also “DMK sympathisers” and added that call to #BoycottA2B was due to the manner in which Srinivasa had allegedly “falsely demonised a community." Adyar Ananda Bhavan is also known as A2B.
Meanwhile, several politicians such as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Kanimozhi took to social media to show their solidarity with A2B. Kanimozhi shared a clip of the interview and said “Thank you for speaking the truth.”
Vanni Arasu, Deputy General Secretary of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) also welcomed Srinivasa’s remarks. “Earlier restaurants were called Iyer or Iyengar hotels. Now non-Brahmins have also started running vegetarian restaurants. The owner of Adyar Ananda Bhavan has said that the reason that all castes are able to run these restaurants that only one particular caste was doing, is Thanthai Periyar. Because of this the Sangh Parivar is campaigning to boycott Adyar Ananda Bhavan. We can see from this their hatred for OBC Hindus,” he said.