Thread (1/5)
When Dayanidhi Maran made his remark, my instinct was to tweet that contrary to appearances of sophistication, dregs of casteism are deeply ingrained. But I didn't. In a climate where all progressive forces have to fight fascists, this'd give undue ammunition to BJP

(2/5) RS Bharati's arrest yday over his offensive remarks in February, shows that the BJP-ADMK are desperate to cash in on this controversy. They are not concerned in the least about Dalit peoples self respect, they merely want the sadistic pleasure of atomizing the opposition.

(3/5) Everytime a Sanghi troll talks about the Dmk, remember: who lynches Dalits over beef? Who arrested Ambedkar's son-in-law on Ambedkar Jayanti? Who is destroying reservation policy? Who is opposed to intercaste marriages? Who wants to perpetuate caste until eternity?

(4/5) As a Tamil woman proud to have translated Periyar, I think we need to introspect immensely. Emancipation is NOT Liberation. Patronising is NOT Revolutionary Solidarity. Talking about alms to Dalits is a way of infantilizing them, robbing their militancy, self determination

(5/5) Also, we need to ask hard questions on identity politics. Why must it be the responsibility of the VCK to condemn such statements? If there is injustice, isn't it a social duty for everyone to raise their voice? By caging radical Dalit movements into one lane, we all lose.