 Hello everyone and welcome to NewsClick. Tamil director Paar Ranjith got into controversy over his speech on Emperor Rajaraja Cholan. His comment that suggested Dalit's operative under Chola dynasty disturbed a section of people and a case is booked against him. Today we have with us Professor Seelakshmanan, Faculty of Madras Institute of Development Studies and a member of Dalit Intellectuals Collective to discuss about this issue. Welcome sir. What about Paar Ranjith sir? What is your opinion? Paar Ranjith is a very talented director, artist and also committed political activist which rare complement in contemporary Tamil cinema industry. Issue now with Ranjith in the early week of June. He attended a memorial meeting of TM Mani, allies for Umar Paruk. It is a fourth year memorial meeting organized by Neelam, Neelapooligal Katchi. So in that he was invited to deliver lecture, speak in the podium, speak in the memorial meeting. So Ranjith was prepared when of collecting the book written by Umar Paruk, TM Mani allies and that book title I forgot I had not recollected but you can get it. So based on that book he spoke three important things. One during a Chola period, the land from the poor and working class particularly marginalized are Dalit beings taken away and given to others particularly there though Ranjith did not say this but given to the dominant caste but generally the history it is a fact in the history those who are done a great amount of time in terms of writing ancient Tamil history particularly Neelam Daswasri and Dharmakumar who was a professor in Delhi School of Economics who wrote in 1969 land and caste and also Burtonstein one of the very important historian in the South India. They made a very profound observation that land during a Chola period and also other dynasty given to three main category or group. First comes the Brahmin and where the Brahmodayam concept of Brahmodayam emerges it is very much in the fact. Second the Vellalas next to the Brahmin and their next to the Brahmin dominant caste they also got a enormous land from the dynasty and the ruler and that is a temple Hindu temples and till Tamil Nadu temple owns highest land than the Tamil Nadu state itself. So those then the final fourth is land to the village. Land given to village is a collective endeavor because land treats are came to exist only after colonial state established before there was no land treat land patta is not there but it's all in the traditional way of owning land. So Brahmins non-Brahmin Vellalas and the temple own highest amount of land and control of land between given land given to village and control over land in the village by the temple is totally different. Temple control is even we all know who is controlling the temple and benefit if your control is with somebody else and the benefit also corner by them. So therefore Ranjith made a statement that Tamil Nadu temples are having a lot of land and third thing which is also not to spoken is the position of women in the ancient time particularly Sola time where the Sola kingdom we have a Devadasi system and so on so forth. So I am not authority on ancient history or Tamil Nadu history Sola dynasty I am a political scientist maybe one can call it political history I have some knowledge so there is a fact but if at all Ranjith spoke anything without evidence or anything without out of conducts there could be a debate and discussion can be engaged not in a way of curtailing is once freedom of expression not only Ranjith anybody for that matter freedom of expression freedom of descent is a core element of or core component of the democracy. Democracy should not be stopped election and election result democracy is behind the election and democracy is a way of life and democracy it is a it is descent and democracy freedom of expression liberty individual liberty personal all the sick encompassed embodied in the concept of democracy and which one has to adhere to but what happened to Ranjith is a very very unfortunate and it should not be happened and underlining fact which require Ranjith also spoke that we need to deconstruct our own our own understandings because generally Sola being celebrated Sola dynasty is being celebrated for many so many account no question but why not Sola said everybody has a merits and demerits two side of the coin so Ranjith is deconstructing our own public or a common notion of history common notion he was actually deconstructing the entire public notion or a common understanding of history so that is a point which is Ranjith is making and another thing he said in late 80s particularly when the identity politics emerges in the beginning and also even early 19th century also when the is a golden period of caste formation on eyes would say because every community every cause a small small cause group come together in order to corner the state benefit colonial state benefit they make a number high and plea for a certain benefit from the state similarly what happens now the identity politics in a late 80s people have trying to construct their own history when they construct their own history that were the starting point is we are descendant of the ruler descendant of that dynasty this dynasty ultimately nobody has a subject now if even all even among the Dalits non-Dalits and others also claim themselves we are descendant of Chola descendant of Pandian we are big rulers all this thing so Ranjith is giving a knock that don't claim those nonsensical claim which is actually is not so therefore Ranjith is not attacking one or another particular caste group he was critical of entire caste group which claims a descendancy from the dynasty all the as well rulers many communities caste groups and all these people are coming against Ranjith why do you think you know they are coming with such an anger towards him no not a community particular caste group such anti Ranjith forces mainly from the Indutva brigades or a reactionary forces and second is some of them are from Tamil nationalist and they are pseudo Tamil nationalist because they neither they know history nor they know culture they are one who are very very fresh in terms of anti in terms of against Ranjith and this also has undercurrent because the reason is Ranjith from the beginning day one onwards almost is declared very openly that I am a Dalits I am come from the oppressed of the oppressed and I have no same and also I have no pride of it and he was a one who was very vocal in terms of anti caste project and also he was a very powerful very internalized Ambedkar ideals and Ambedkar thought nobody can challenge Ambedkar because that is what wherever he goes he starts with the JBL which is very very new phenomena second thing is in the film industry unlike Ranjith none of other personalities in the film industry able to neither assert themselves by their self nor incorporate the way in which the assertive and positive energy of the community and also he was asserting himself that is I am not afraid of anything and in a way he is also risking so that is the people think Dalits should not speak openly Dalits should not speak truth Dalits have no intelligent of their own but that is a disproved and Ranjith during all through he was anti Indutua forces and the Kala was a one direct critic on Indutua forces and even during election because he is not stand as isolated himself he was an activist he is a very very powerful activist he made a lot of initiatives and brought and made it it's a meaningful take an example of Kastas collective of Madras the Nativity Music or Bonham festival or even a library initiative in Kugai and also he was wherever atrocities happening wherever atrocities happening he was a neat suicide he was a one who organized and violence wherever happens he goes and he send his team from Nelam Panbatum I am group go and intervene so this this never seen in the film industry person coming in participating everyday politics and everyday activities in the society and is critical of the state and the central government as well