A Tamil Nadu-based podcast, Schumy Vanna Kaviyangal, or SVK, has seen increased harassment from Islamist groups. The harassment eventually escalated into death threats.
— Schumy Vanna Kaviyangal (@Schumy_Official) February 22, 2024
In an interview with the Atheist Republic news team, the podcast’s co-founder Haashiraamaa Senju said the harassment started after they aired the Godman episode in August 2020. According to Senju, they’ve taken flak from several Islamist groups, but some individuals were much more vocal with their harassment.
The parent organization, which goes by the same name, Schumy Vanna Kaviyangal, promotes Dravidian ideology and advocates for atheism. “Our ultimate goal, really, is to abolish the caste system in India through the teachings of Thanthai Periyar and by abolishing religion,” HS explained.
“Most of the population in India does not subscribe to Dravidian ideology. I think that’s the problem,” he added.
The Godman episode discussed multiple religions, not just Islam. “The episode talked about how religion is a scam; we were just discussing all religions,” Senju explained. He added that they mentioned Islam for approximately ten minutes during the four-hour episode.
According to Senju, the episode scrutinized leaders of Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam, calling them “fucking idiots.”
Senju added that the discussion in the Godman episode referred to religious fundamentalist leaders' behaviors.
We are with you, we were expecting these kinds of troubles to follow after you had collaboration with DMK MP. Let it be. We always support you
— Sarathkumar (@k45615121) February 22, 2024
Kakashi, one of the presenters of the Godman episode, said that their focus was to criticize all religious leaders, not just Hindu leaders.
“We admit to using some profanity during our discussion in the podcast,” Kakashi admitted. They also highlighted the online harassment of Muslim leaders in a different episode, he added.
In early 2021, SVK decided to edit out the ten-minute section of the Godman episode where they discussed Islam. The harassment from the Islamist groups subsided and eventually died out.
Early in 2024, an uncut version of the Godman episode began circulating. Senju said he was confident that the people behind it were the same Muslims who were very vocal about their reaction to the episode.
According to Senju, the recent harassment has become increasingly distressing. “Family members of SVK staff are being followed around,” he said. “One staffer received pictures of his family members and himself,” he added. What’s more worrying is that the pictures were taken very recently, hinting at the possibility of being followed.
“I’m not worried about myself. They don’t know me, personally,” Senju said, “I’m not even friends with my wife on Facebook,” he joked ruefully.
We are with you guys
— Pulthi (@dai_dude) February 22, 2024
Another staffer of SVK said that some of them were doxxed by the Islamist group connected to the Welfare Party of India (WPI).
In February 2024, SVK members met with representatives from the complaining Islamist group through a WhatsApp conference. During the meeting, the Islamist group demanded that SVK stop using pseudonyms, issue a public apology, and show their faces.
They were also asked to stop criticizing Narendra Modi and to stop talking about religion.
SVK eventually issued a public statement insisting that their goal is to speak out against religion and religious people. “As an atheist organization and as a Dravidian ideologist, it is our job to criticize religion; we’re just sorry that we are using profanity,” the statement said.
“I think that’s where it made sense,” Senju explained. He added that the Islamist groups that were vocal in their criticism are connected to WIP but secretly work with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
“It was a clarification statement,” Kakashi clarified.
— Schumy Vanna Kaviyangal (@Schumy_Official) February 22, 2024
After SVK released the statement, the Islamist groups said it was not enough and filed a police complaint, exacerbating the situation.
According to Senju, different Islamist groups were harassing them, but only one demanded a public apology. “The group connected to the Welfare Party is roiling other Islamic groups to attack us, to benefit the BJP alliance,” he added.
The same group is also circulating stories that SVK is connected to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Party, a known BJP opposition party. “The Welfare Party is telling Muslim groups that SVK is connected to the DMK because they hosted Kanimozhi Karunanidhi,” Senju explained.
Karunanidhi is a former MP from the DMK party.
“I think we are caught in a political issue because of the incoming national election,” Senju explained. It is unusual for Muslims to ally with the BJP, Senju added.
According to Kakashi, some extremist Hindu groups used the same tactics in previous state elections, where they coerced other groups to harass their targets. But they were not usually done by Muslim groups, he added.
wtf
— Anti D-Stock (Modi ka Parivar) (@AntiDstock) February 22, 2024
Senju said there were death threats and online harassment along with the photographs taken.
But we will not be deterred, Senju exclaimed. SVK plans to release a series of podcasts reviewing Modi’s political performance over the last ten years. He added that they would not let politics impede them from reaching their goal.
“We will continue to stand with our Muslim brothers, even though we know that we have problems with religion, but we will continue to stand with them,” Senju added.
Note: The names of the SVK members are withheld for their protection.
