A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Devendrakula Vellalar will now be known by their heritage name and not the six to seven names listed in the Schedule to the Constitution, the community has assured the former of their life-long support.Thangaraj, the chairman of the Devendra Voluntary Trust who has been pushing for the long-standing demand of declaring seven caste subdivisions as Devendra Kula Vellalar, has assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the community's complete and permanent support.The people belonging to the seven subdivisions of Devendra Kulathan, Kadayan, Kaladi, Kudumban, Pallan, Pannadi and Vathiriyan had been demanding for a long time that they should be united and called Devendrakula Vellalar.
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Based on the anthropological report on the request, the Tamil Nadu government recommended to the Union Government to fulfil the demand of Devendrakula Vellalar.Accepting the state government's recommendation and anthropology reports, the Narendra Modi government has tabled the bill in the Lok Sabha.In an exclusive interview to Asianet News, Thangaraj said, "The demand for Devendrakula Vellalar is not a casteist demand, but a cultural demand. We have culturally emphasized the need to call the Devendra, Kadayan, Kaladi, Kudumban, Pallan, Pannadi and Vadiriyan communities -- which have the same biology, customs and culture -- by the common name of Devendrakula Vellalar.
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"On December 2, 2010, we held a grand gathering of people from all communities at the Madurai Tamukkam Grounds. At that conference, we passed a resolution calling all the above 7 subdivisions by the common name of Devendrakula Vellalar. The passage of the resolution mobilizing the people of all communities attracted national attention," he said."After Madurai gathering, I heard BJP former national president and Union minister Amit Shah Speaking at a conference in Madhya Pradesh speak proudly about the Devendrakula Vellalar community. After hearing that, we invited him to a conference held in 2015 to emphasise the demand of the Devendrakula Vellalar. Attending the meeting and signing the resolution, Amit Shah assured that he would make arrangements to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and present the petition on the same platform. Following this, we met Prime Minister Modi with 100 people and presented the petition."
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"In 2017, we submitted a petition to the government of Tamil Nadu. On the instructions of the central government, the Tamil Nadu government set up an Anthropology Committee headed by Sumathi to conduct the study. The Hansraj Verma Committee submitted a report on the results of that study. That study report confirms that our demand is culturally valid and that our long-standing demand is going to be met.""The only thing the Union government sought to fulfil our request was the anthropological thesis. We took steps to that end. Thus the practice of looking at the caste system from the perspective of anthropology has developed in Tamil Nadu. Even PMK founder Ramdas described it as a victory for the Devendra Kula Vellalar culture. While the rhetoric of culture is on the rise in Tamil Nadu, the Dravidian is been diluting in Tamil Nadu."
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On whether the decision had been taken to woo the Devendrakula Vellalar community vote bank ahead of the Tamil Nadu assembly election and whether the decision would impact the poll fortunes, Thangaraj said, "Hansraj Verma's anthropological report was submitted ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. So, it should have been passed immediately. Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah have always had the intention of fulfilling the demands of the Devendrakula Vellalar. The time for that has just arrived.""This will definitely have an impact on the election. Most of the votes of Devendrakula Vellalars have so far gone to the DMK. That situation will definitely change now. The overall support of Devendrakula Vellalar is for Prime Minister Modi. The Devendrakula Vellalar community is the community that supports Prime Minister Modi 100 per cent. Many of those who voted for the DMK from the Devendrakula Vellalar community have now confirmed that their vote is for the BJP. The vote of Devendrakula Vellalar for the BJP's coalition parties will be BJP-centric votes."
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