Political analyst and election strategist Prashant Kishor questioned the inaction against hate speeches targeting migrant workers from North India. Prashant cited a speech made by actor-politician Seeman, the leader of Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), where the latter is seen saying, among other things, that Hindi-speaking people will leave Tamil Nadu (TN) if he comes to power.
Prashant shared a 45-second-long video clip along with the Hindi translation and tweeted, “All those who used fake videos to incite hate & violence must be dealt with as per the law. But this doesn’t absolve those who’re openly calling for violence against # Hindi-speaking people in TN. Why no action against the likes of @SeemanOfficial for their vitriolic utterances?”
All those who used fake videos to incite hate & violence must be dealt with as per the law.
— Prashant Kishor (@PrashantKishor) March 10, 2023
But this doesn’t absolve those who’re openly calling for violence against #Hindi speaking people in #TN
Why no action against likes of @SeemanOfficial for their vitriolic utterances? pic.twitter.com/vyu2EkjBQu
The video clip is part of a 30-minute speech made by Seeman, the founder of NTK, on February 14, during the Erode bye-election. In the speech, Seeman criticised the Dravidian parties for their political stands. He said that both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are similar and that policies Policies like NEET, GST, and NRC were brought by the Congress, but implemented by the BJP.
Seeman made statements about migrant labourers while speaking about Katchatheevu, a small islet located at the Palk Strait, connecting the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. It was a disputed territory between Sri Lanka and India and was later ceded to Sri Lanka. Since then, there have been multiple resolutions and debates around Katchatheevu, and it is used as an important tool in TN politics. Critiquing the way Dravidian parties handled this issue, he alleged that there has been no development on it as those in power are not so strong. This was when he referred to the Hindi-speaking migrant population in TN.
“Let’s see what happens if a person like me comes to power. They will run away from this place. All Hindi-speaking people will pack their bags and start going away. Nobody knows how many people I will take care of. They will pack their bags within one week,” he said and went on to talk about what sort of punishment will be given for different types of crimes.
Prashant Kishore’s tweet comes at a time when the TN police have been taking action against persons who were found to be involved in spreading false news about violence against migrant labourers in the state.
In February this year, 38-year-old Magimaidas was arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) for verbally and physically attacking Hindi-speaking migrant labourers inside a train compartment. The video, which had gone viral on social media, shows the man talking about the loss of job opportunities for Tamil Nadu natives due to migration, as he punches and slaps the labourers.