Countering Hindu Hegemony: Tamil Separatism as Counter-Memory Work

When beginning work on this paper in February 2020, Delhi was on fire following days of Hindutva riots in what has since been described as a pogrom. The Hindu nationalist violence that incited the riots relies on convenient, ideological scripts of Hinduism that reify Sanskrit linguistic and Brahmanical caste hierarchies. Nonetheless, resistance is not lost as Tamil counter-memories on language and caste reinterpret Hindutva histories of India to provide an alternative, oppositional possibility for a progressive future. Tamil Nadu, the southeastern-most state in India, has a legacy of being a stronghold for anti-casteist and pro-Dravidian politics. In this paper, I trace how Tamil Nadu’s separatist politics engage with Dravidian counter-memory that challenges conservative Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) narratives of Hindu Nationalism. This paper aims to explore two particular tensions emergent between the BJP and Tamil counter-memory: Sanskritization versus Tamil purism and BJP casteism in opposition to Dravidian anti-caste resistances. Furthermore, these counter-memories transcend elections and demonstrate a material and discursive resistance to fascism. As the Indian state descends further into the clutches of Hindu nationalism and casteist bias, Tamil counter-memory work establishes the utopic possibility in uncovering the unique, transgressive history of Tamil Nadu and Tamil linguistic sovereignty. Moreover, the ubiquity of the Tamil language beyond India provides the opportunity for solidarity among upper- caste Tamils, non-Indian Tamils, and anti-fascist memory activists in India. Much of the power of Hindutva is its affective appeal; indeed, the best way to counter its hegemony is through compelling, information-based memory practices such as the work done through Tamil counter-memory.