Committed to safeguard religious harmony: Vijay

TAmilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay on mon tended to(p) a john r. Major noel jubilation in Mamallapuram, two days after the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) held a grand Christmas bash in Tirunelveli district’s Dakkarammapuram on December 20.Addressing the gathering at the event, which was titled “Equality Christmas”, Vijay, who is a Christian by birth, said that TVK believed in the principle of respect to all religions and promised to safeguard religious harmony in the state.Social and religious harmony will be protected and there won’t be any kind of compromise on that. That is why our policies are named secular social justice policies,” Vijay said.“Even if the lifestyle and method of worship are different, we are all brothers,” he added.“All praise to Allah. Praise the Lord. Be confident. Only good things will happen. Our victory is assured,” he added later in the speech.Taking a jibe at the DMK, Vijay retold the Old Testament parable about young Joseph sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, who eventually rose to save his land and people (including his traitorous family) from famine. Incidentally, the hero of the parable shares his name with the name given to Vijay at birth— Joseph Vijay Chandrashekhar, later changed to the mononym Vijay. “I don’t think there is a need for me to say who that specific story is about,” he said at the event.After the stampede during a TVK rally in Karur where 41 people were killed and over 100 injured, Vijay has accused the DMK of allegedly conspiracy with regards to the incident. The ruling party continues to maintain that the stampede was caused due to TVK’s alleged flouting of crowd management rules imposed by the local police.According to political analysts,who spoke on condition of anonymity, the DMK’s Christmas event may have been aimed at maintaining their Christian votebank in the wake of Vijay’s entry into the political arena.Christians constitute more than 6% of Tamil Nadu’s population. The minority vote bank (Christians -6.12% and Muslims- 5.86%) in Tamil Nadu have been with the DMK coalition, particularly since the 2019 elections when the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) joined hands.Vijay has positioned TVK as the political enemy of the DMK and the ideological enemy of the BJP.At DMK’s event, senior members of the church urged people to vote for chief minister M K Stalin. “The minorities have always been with us and we have always ensured that they are not threatened,” said a senior DMK leader, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We don’t know if some feel like voting for Vijay but it is important that we consolidate our support base.”