CHENNAI: Catching the quota fever, a group of Brahmins in Tamil Nadu are now pushing for reservation in government jobs and educational institutes, on the onset of the state Assembly elections. Leaders of BJP and Anthanar Munnetra Kazhagam say they have enlisted 15,000 people across the state, contradicting the caste dynamics in the country where the lower caste communities have suffered at the hands of the bourgeois for years. S Ve Shekhar, former MLA from Mylapore said, “It is a curse being born a Brahmin in Tamil Nadu. Brahmins constitute less than 4 per cent of the state's population, which is why they are neglected. Only a few of them are able to acquire education and migrate to other parts of India to lead a prosperous life.” He said his community members will continue to suffer unless an individual’s economic status was made the only yardstick for reservation.
The AMK at its convention in Chennai, demanded 3 per cent reservation for Brahmins. “We also demand protection from harassment and ridicule that Brahmins are often subjected to, especially in Tamil movies,” AMK president S Jayaprakash Iyer said. The party has also asked for a minimum salary of Rs 1,000 per month for all the priests and sivarchakas working in temples and the creation of a temple welfare board.
