The suicides in Andhra Pradesh by the late YSR’s fans show that in South India icon worship has not stopped exacting its bloody toll, report Naresh Nunna and N Asokan
The grisly routine was repeated yet again: this time in Andhra
Pradesh. A charismatic leader had died in the most tragic circumstances, leaving behind such bereavement that one death became the cause of 46. Some, it is true, suffered heart attacks; but as in the past many of these were not natural deaths.
Among the fans of the late Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy were also scores who, while they had not the heart to take their own lives, were so overcome with grief that they remain inconsolable even today. Does that strike you as strange? That somebody should grieve for another even more than for one’s own family? Yet the death of the charismatic YSR exacted precisely such a toll. After he went missing on September 2 the entire state seemed to be falling apart. And after his death was conclusively established, it was – whichever way you turned – Heartbreak Andhra.
One youngster’s suicide note said, “YSR dedicated his life to the people, I am dedicating my life to him.” And without waiting to give it a second thought the youth had consumed pesticide. Tragic as this is, though, it is well known that South India is the country’s suicide zone; and while what caused the most recent spate of suicides was a major loss for the state, few are ever surprised when someone unknown in South India decides to end his/her life. The respected British medical journal The Lancet in fact says that South India accounts for the world’s largest number of suicides, and not just India’s.
One of the commonest suicide triggers in the South – particularly Andhra and Tamil Nadu – is the demise of a mass icon. Only, nobody quite knows what it is in this region that so propels people to commit hara-kiri in extreme – and sometimes not so extreme – circumstances. Says A Marx, a social scientist, “South India’s history is replete with loyalists in awe of their rulers, who gladly allow themselves to be decapitated because nothing less will satisfy them. In the southern tradition suicides resulting from such extreme emotions has always been venerated.” When star politician MG Ramachandran died Tamil Nadu witnessed many such cases. Countless others tonsured their heads as though MGR was their own kin. When Karunanidhi was in the opposition and was arrested it was normal for his party cadres to attempt self-immolation bids. A DMK member made an abortive attempt in front of Karunanidhi’s residence when the latter announced his political retirement. Karunanidhi expectedly withdrew it. When Vaiko was expelled from the DMK in 1993, a youngster, Nochikuppam Dhandapani, committed self-immolation right in front of his house. There followed four more suicides – causing Vaiko to form a new party.
The grisly routine was repeated yet again: this time in Andhra
Pradesh. A charismatic leader had died in the most tragic circumstances, leaving behind such bereavement that one death became the cause of 46. Some, it is true, suffered heart attacks; but as in the past many of these were not natural deaths.Among the fans of the late Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy were also scores who, while they had not the heart to take their own lives, were so overcome with grief that they remain inconsolable even today. Does that strike you as strange? That somebody should grieve for another even more than for one’s own family? Yet the death of the charismatic YSR exacted precisely such a toll. After he went missing on September 2 the entire state seemed to be falling apart. And after his death was conclusively established, it was – whichever way you turned – Heartbreak Andhra.
One youngster’s suicide note said, “YSR dedicated his life to the people, I am dedicating my life to him.” And without waiting to give it a second thought the youth had consumed pesticide. Tragic as this is, though, it is well known that South India is the country’s suicide zone; and while what caused the most recent spate of suicides was a major loss for the state, few are ever surprised when someone unknown in South India decides to end his/her life. The respected British medical journal The Lancet in fact says that South India accounts for the world’s largest number of suicides, and not just India’s.
One of the commonest suicide triggers in the South – particularly Andhra and Tamil Nadu – is the demise of a mass icon. Only, nobody quite knows what it is in this region that so propels people to commit hara-kiri in extreme – and sometimes not so extreme – circumstances. Says A Marx, a social scientist, “South India’s history is replete with loyalists in awe of their rulers, who gladly allow themselves to be decapitated because nothing less will satisfy them. In the southern tradition suicides resulting from such extreme emotions has always been venerated.” When star politician MG Ramachandran died Tamil Nadu witnessed many such cases. Countless others tonsured their heads as though MGR was their own kin. When Karunanidhi was in the opposition and was arrested it was normal for his party cadres to attempt self-immolation bids. A DMK member made an abortive attempt in front of Karunanidhi’s residence when the latter announced his political retirement. Karunanidhi expectedly withdrew it. When Vaiko was expelled from the DMK in 1993, a youngster, Nochikuppam Dhandapani, committed self-immolation right in front of his house. There followed four more suicides – causing Vaiko to form a new party.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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