"நாமார்க்கும் குடியல்லோம்; நமனை அஞ்சோம்"

ஆன்மிகத்தின் ஒரு உயரிய கருத்தை தனித்தமிழ் இயக்கத்தின் கோஷமாக மாற்றும், இந்துமத துவேஷத்திற்க்காக பயன்படுத்தும் ஜெகத் கஸ்பர் தீவிரவாதிகளை விட அபாயகரமான ஒரு சக்தி. Master of intellectual terrorism.

Since the defeat of armed revolution of LTTE it appears there's a group of Tamilians have launched a movement that's of cerebral nature. IBC Tamil, an YouTube channel seems to be one of its face.

Of late most of its anchors are from Srilankan Tamil diaspora. The new route for Tamil Nationalism seems to be rewriting Tamil history. Hence the focus on Keezhadi, Tamil Saiva Siddhanta and Ajivika.

Though there are no direct evidence for Ajivika (ஆசீவகம் in Tamil) being the prevalent faith system of Tamils there's a set of scholarship being promoted to reinstate Ajivika as the primordial religion of ancient Tamils.

The lack of archaeological evidence or literature on Ajivika in TN is being compensated by tendentious retelling of Tamil history. For example, Sangam literature were agnostic, lifestyle of ancient Tamilagam was that of Nature Worship.

From pantheism to Ajivika then on to Saiva Siddhanta. Which was dominated by so called Aryan Brahmins who migrated to south and appropriated the Dravidian gods and philosophies.

Given the political vacuum in TN (meaning the absence of charismatic political leadership) the Greater Eelam project seems to have been morphed into The Second Aryan Dravidian (read Tamil) battle. This time it's not weapons and ammunition. But ideological.

Jagath Gasper's carefully chosen vocabulary, though claiming that he's not against Hinduism, is quite conspicuous in planting the terms like Brahmanism (பார்ப்பனீம்), Aryan hegemony (ஆரிய மேலாதிக்கம்), etc. among the minds of Tamil youth.

Jagath Gasper's speeches are well received even among Tamil Hindus because he's smart enough to intersperse his speeches with occasional rebukes against Christianity. Also his mastery over Tamil spiritual literary tradition and works lull the listeners.

Though a catholic his speeches are a fusion of Protestantism, Marxism and Tamil identarianism presented in a modern context. Clever to mix his neo liberal-spiritual ideology to speak on popular issues (anti corporate/Gujarati Baniya hatred/Aryan Brahmins/RSS).

Only time can answer whether Gasper's project will bear results. Dravidian parties may use him as and when needed to prevent BJP gaining foothold in TN and Communists/Congress will do the same in Kerala.

His strategy is akin to the Anglicans in UK. Instead of constantly duelling with rationalists rather collude with them against Catholics. In TN context collude with Dravidian parties to thwart Hindutva ascendence.