Colour change in politics: Karunanidhi to wear black

Chennai, 05 Oct 2012 (TOI): The sartorial taste of Dravidian politicians has evoked little excitement over the years. They always sport white shirts and white dhotis, no matter which party they belong to. But on Thursday, DMK chief M Karunanidhi had political circles aflutter when he was wheeled into Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters in Chennai, wearing a black shirt and white dhoti. Even the characteristic yellow shawl, always on his shoulder, was replaced by a white one.

 

When reporters asked the DMK chief about his choice of attire, Karunanidhi said the police had banned black attire for a protest planned by the DMK on Friday. "Considering that violating the ban might lead to trouble, I thought it fit to wear a black shirt today," he added. Taking their leader’s cue, a few senior party leaders too switched to black shirts.

 

Later in the evening, Karunanidhi , in his customary letter to party cadres published in party organ ’Murasoli’ , said he would continue to wear black in the days to come as a mark of protest against the AIADMK government.

 

"From today, as a mark of protest against the government , I am wearing black. I will continue to wear it," Karunanidhi said.

 

This would perhaps be the first time in more than four decades that Karunanidhi is changing the colour of his shirt. Except on a couple of occasions when the DMK veteran switched to a long kurta (in white), he has never strayed from the white-shirt-whitedhoti attire. Today black shirts are worn only by members of the Dravidar Kazhagam founded by Periyar (E V Ramasamy Naicker), Karunanidhi’s mentor. Members of a small number of fringe groups also sport black shirts.

 

Periyar followers among the DMK senior leaders are cheering Karunanidhi’s wardrobe change. "Hereafter no one can criticize him for using a yellow shawl," DMK volunteers wing state secretary Pollachi M Umapathy said. He expressed the hope that the younger generation in the party will also follow Periyar’s ideologies henceforth. "Many of our second-level leaders bought black shirts today," he said.

 

In 1996, Karunanidhi made a small change in his attire by throwing a yellow shawl on his shoulders. He discarded the shawl only on a couple of occasions in the last 16 years, including once when he wore a silk dhoti and silk shirt, with a silk angavastram, when he visited the Big Temple in Thanjavur during its millennium celebrations in 2010.

 

Exciting by her father’s decision to wear black, DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi told TOI, "I am happy to see him wear a black shirt. It looks like the continuation of the Dravidian movement in many ways and it is a moment for relook and reassertion of many of our ideologies. It also shows the unrelenting fighting sprit of our leader. It will energize the party."

 

Recalling his association with the ’black shirt movement’ launched by Periyar in 1945, Karunanidhi in his statement said he was the first to register for it. Before C N Annadurai broke away from Dravidar Kazhagam to form DMK in 1949 following differences over participating in the electoral process, all the Dravidian leaders, including Karunanidhi , used to sport black shirts frequently. The sartorial shift happened when he and many leaders followed Annadurai to launch DMK, and began wearing white shirts.

 

At a function at Periyar Thidal, the DK headquarters, Karunanidhi reiterated he would be wearing black shirt in the days to come. He also ruled out the possibility of his party aligning with ’communal forces’.

 

At a press conference earlier in the day, Karunanidhi said police have denied permission to the DMK to hold a human chain protest on Friday. He said the partymen would now go on a door-to-door campaign, distributing pamphlets against the "anti-people" policies of the state government.