Why 'Tamil Pride Ravana' is Trending on the Day of Ram Mandir Bhumi Pujan in Ayodhya
Just around the time Prime Minister Narendra Modi set foot in Ayodhya to lay the foundation stone for the new Ram temple, the beginnings of a fiery debate around the identity of Lord Ram’s arch rival, Ravanan, was taking root on Tamil Twitter.
Social media circles were abuzz after the trend "Tamil Arasan Ravanan" began to emerge.
It is not unusual for a cohort of Twitter handles promoting anti-Modi opinion to reach trend-levels – it has happened on numerous occasions when the Prime Minister visited the state.
On Wednesday morning, the emergence of such a trend quickly got embroiled in the question over the identity of Ravanan itself, with some claiming him Shaivites, while others pointing to the Sinhalas celebrating him as an ethnic God, while others postulated him as Brahmin.
Within no time, Tamil Twitter was in a bind over Ram’s arch-rival on a day the BJP-led Centre celebrated a "historic" success of what has been a "500-year struggle," according to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Take a look at chaotic opinion-making in Tamil Twitter land:
India is the land of ravanan
there is no space for any Rama #LandOfRavanan pic.twitter.com/MbVEMzCZyI
— கற்றது அரசியல் (@Learnedpolitics) August 5, 2020
Yes , he is a king of Tamil , protected sits without abusing her, but your rama forced her to get down in fire for her innocence!! What nonsense is this !! Is it a work of rama!!
Therefore we have been continuously praise our king Ravanan#LandOfRavana #TamilPrideRavanaa
— Durai Arun (@duraiarunan) August 5, 2020
Lanka ruled by Ravana has been a thousand times higher than Rama's Ayodhya. Then why, we call good rule Rama rule and bad rule Ravanaa rule ?#TamilPrideRavanaa#LandOfRavana
— Fight against #HindutvaHasbara (@Zahid_iok) August 5, 2020
According to the Ramayana, Ravana was a Brahmin and a Shiv bhakth. For avowed atheists and brahmin haters to trend his name and identify themselves with him to show their antipathy to Rama (a Kshatriya ) and what he represents makes little sense. 🙄
— Sumanth Raman (@sumanthraman) August 5, 2020
I wouldn't touch her against her will - Ravanan🔥
This one reason is enough to celebrate him. #LandOfRavana #TamilsPrideRavanan pic.twitter.com/pHSNd406Ib
— Kanimozhi Manoharan (@kani_manoharan) August 5, 2020
#TamilsPrideRavanaa ?? Really??
Ok then listen, Lord Rama ki||ed your pride... Lord Rama and his small army destroyed your so called Ravana dynasty...
And listen you fools, Rama is avtar of Bhagwan vishnu where #Ravana is avtar of gatekeeper of lord Vishnu#HindusPrideLordRama
— A4aadi 🚩 (@akki_aditya) August 5, 2020
Tamil Nadu’s social media circles have been severely polarised grounds of late, with right-wingers, now rising in volume, continuously taking on those espousing the Dravidian cause.
