Bull's Eye

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Chennai, December 5, 2010:
Last week witnessed scenes of unprecedented violence and mayhem across Tamil Nadu. The crisis was ignited by popular Tamil actor and TV anchorman Khushboothalingam. In a TV programme, he advised brides to stop assuming that their newly-wed husbands were necessarily virgins. The actor advised women to practise safe sex. Mr Khushboothalingam, it might be recalled, is an activist forAIDS awareness.

The actor's remarks created an instant uproar. Men all over the state protested against this slur on their morality. An irate businessman from Madurai said: "This is an insult that no self-respecting Tamil male will tolerate! Is the actor implying that some Tamil males actually have sex before marriage?" An official in Chennai fumed, "I'll have Khushboothalingam know some Tamil males are so pure they remain chaste even after marriage!"

The crisis worsened after the husband of a prominent film director defended Khusboothalingam. As a result, the film director's husband also became a target of various men's organisations spread across the state. Twenty-five defamation cases have been slapped in various courts of Tamil Nadu charging both offenders with defamation, obscenity and attempts to corrupt the morals of innocents. Arrest warrants against Khusboothalingam were issued by a court. When, along with his lawyer, he appeared in court to plead bail, a crowd of two lakh angry men greeted him with black flags and abuses. He got bail on the condition that he would not address the media or make more remarks doubting the virginity of Tamil males. As he left the court, he was pelted with rotten tomatoes and eggs thrown by angry protesters.

Celebrities outside Tamil Nadu are attempting to soften criticism against Khushboothalingam. India's tennis ace Salim Mirza, who last week moved among the world's top three in the ATP rankings, said: "There is nothing wrong with advocating safe sex! Khushboothalingam's remarks have been misunderstood." This was greeted with criticism by both Islamic clerics and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The clerics had distrusted Mirza ever since he shaved off his beard. They now accuse him of expressing views that are not Islamic. The VHP leaders castigate Mirza for denigrating Tamil men.

This crisis is snowballing into a national movement. Political parties of Tamil Nadu are organising rallies against Khushboothalingam in every district. Their leaders are contacting other states to explore possibilities of creating the Fourteenth Front. "We will never get such a popular issue to rally public opinion," one leader pointed out.