Actress Kasturi's speech in Tamil, where she commented on Telugu people in a specific context, has gone viral, sparking several misinterpretations on Telugu social media and even in mainstream media.
The issue is that many people translated her comments without understanding the context or whom she was addressing.
It's well-known that the DMK is staunchly opposed to Brahminical ideologies and Sanatana Dharma. They frequently criticize Sanatana Dharma in their speeches and argue that Brahmins are not indigenous to Tamil Nadu.
Kasturi's point was that if Brahmins who migrated to Tamil Nadu thousands of years ago are still considered outsiders by the DMK, then what about others?
Though she didn't mention, the reading between her words has a hidden meaning.
For instance, DMK founder Karunanidhi's family originally spoke Telugu. Similarly, Arcot Ramaswamy was from a Telugu-speaking family. Many Telugu-speaking people migrated to the Tamil region relatively recently, compared to the Brahmin communities who have been here for thousands of years.
Kasturi questioned, "How can these Telugu-speaking people (referring to Karunanidhi and Stalin's ancestors), who migrated to Tamil Nadu during the monarchial era to serve queens in royal palaces, now claim 'my Tamil land' and dismiss Brahmins, who settled here long ago, as outsiders? If that's the case, shouldn’t they name their party 'Tamizhan Munnetra Kazhagam' instead of 'Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam'?"
Thus, her comments were directed specifically at Stalin and Karunanidhi's ancestors, not at Telugu people in general. However, her words were misinterpreted due to a lack of context and an accurate translation.