4 ms·

Not that it's okay, but the Tamil Nadu situation seems (to an outsider) to be a class/caste based call to violence more than a racial genocide. Sort of like "ea

Not that it's okay, but the Tamil Nadu situation seems (to an outsider) to be a class/caste based call to violence more than a racial genocide. Sort of like "eat the rich", where there's no specific call to ethnically cleanse anyone, "just" for class warfare. Definitely possible I'm missing something, and it's a touchy subject, but one I'm increasingly interested in these times. So feel free to correct if I'm wrong, or just chime in.

1sembiyan 4y ago
In Tamil Nadu, there are racial overtones to this call for violence. It’s targeted specifically at Tamil Brahmins, regarded as “outsider Aryans”. There are other wealthy landed castes, but they are not the target of this rhetoric (and they are the ones in power). So it’s not just “eat the rich”. Along side this, there’s actual physical violence between other caste groups. The ones targeting Brahmins is interesting because of the language used (example above) and how normative it has become (Tamil mainstream media will not call it out, pop culture acceptance and tropes), their complete lack of political power in the state and the absence of much physical violence. There’s some very fascinating history behind this. In case you are interested in how the current moment came about, two books: 1. The Emergence of Provincial Politics, DA Washbrook - https://www.amazon.com/Emergence-Provincial-Politics-Presidency-1870-1920/dp/0521053455 https://www.amazon.com/Emergence-Provincial-Politics-Preside... 2. The politics of south India, CJ Baker - https://www.amazon.com/Politics-South-1920-1937-Cambridge-Studies/dp/0521052769 https://www.amazon.com/Politics-South-1920-1937-Cambridge-St...
- labster 4y ago
  I see this post has been downvoted, but I don’t know enough about the situation to know why. Is it factually wrong or do people oppose the politics?
  - elSidCampeador 4y ago
    the latter
bawolff 4y ago
Isn't that a common excuse for genocide though? just look at the talking points that are used to justify violence against jews.
samatman 4y ago
Castes are largely endogamous, so eliminationist rhetoric directed against a particular caste is genocidal in character. Caste, class, and ethnicity, are not tightly-defined concepts (with the exception of caste in India, I'm referring to extensions of the idea outside of its origin), the genocide of the Tutsi has aspects of all three.

1sembiyan 4y ago

In Tamil Nadu, there are racial overtones to this call for violence. It’s targeted specifically at Tamil Brahmins, regarded as “outsider Aryans”. There are other wealthy landed castes, but they are not the target of this rhetoric (and they are the ones in power). So it’s not just “eat the rich”. Along side this, there’s actual physical violence between other caste groups. The ones targeting Brahmins is interesting because of the language used (example above) and how normative it has become (Tamil mainstream media will not call it out, pop culture acceptance and tropes), their complete lack of political power in the state and the absence of much physical violence. There’s some very fascinating history behind this. In case you are interested in how the current moment came about, two books: 1. The Emergence of Provincial Politics, DA Washbrook - https://www.amazon.com/Emergence-Provincial-Politics-Presidency-1870-1920/dp/0521053455 https://www.amazon.com/Emergence-Provincial-Politics-Preside... 2. The politics of south India, CJ Baker - https://www.amazon.com/Politics-South-1920-1937-Cambridge-Studies/dp/0521052769 https://www.amazon.com/Politics-South-1920-1937-Cambridge-St...

labster 4y ago
I see this post has been downvoted, but I don’t know enough about the situation to know why. Is it factually wrong or do people oppose the politics?
- elSidCampeador 4y ago
  the latter

bawolff 4y ago

Isn't that a common excuse for genocide though? just look at the talking points that are used to justify violence against jews.

samatman 4y ago

Castes are largely endogamous, so eliminationist rhetoric directed against a particular caste is genocidal in character. Caste, class, and ethnicity, are not tightly-defined concepts (with the exception of caste in India, I'm referring to extensions of the idea outside of its origin), the genocide of the Tutsi has aspects of all three.