Swaminathan Gurumurthy

2021-09-09T18:31:59Z

2409:4072:6D18:2130:D4A8:3227:E49D:C8D6:

{{Use Indian English|date=November 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = S. Gurumurthy
| image =
| nationality = [[India|Indian]]
| occupation = Chartered Accountant, Columnist, Political and Economics Analyst
}}
'''Swaminathan Gurumurthy ''', also known as '''Thuglaq Gurumurthy''', is an [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh|RSS]] Ideologue.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.news18.com/news/business/how-rss-ideologue-gurumurthy-shook-up-rbi-and-became-one-of-indias-most-influential-economic-voices-1955611.html|title=How RSS Ideologue Gurumurthy Shook up RBI and Became One of the Most Influential Economic Voices|website=News18|access-date=2019-12-21}}</ref> He is also a [[journalist]] editing the Tamil political weekly [[Thuglak]] and a [[Chartered Accountant]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://m.rediff.com/news/interview/india-is-secular-because-it-is-hindu/20170616.htm|title=India is secular because it is Hindu}}</ref>

He is the co-convenor of the [[Swadeshi Jagaran Manch]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bhatt-vs-gujarat-govt-hacked-email-vs-email/827972/0|title=Bhatt vs Gujarat govt: Hacked email vs email|accessdate=2011-08-08}}</ref> He is considered to be a [[Hindu nationalism|Hindu nationalist]] ideologue; he has mentioned that he is not into electoral politics based on inputs from Swami Chandrasekharendra Saraswati.{{fact|date=July 2020}}

==Personal life==
He was born to a [[Tamil Brahmin]] family<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/tamil-brahmins-vs-bengalis-146839-2011-11-25|title=A paradigm shift|date=25 November 2011|website=India Today|language=en|access-date=2019-11-03}}</ref> at [[South Arcot District (Madras Presidency)]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thewire.in/economy/gurumurthy-demonetisation-modi-swamy|title=The Importance and Unimportance of S. Gurumurthy|website=The Wire|access-date=2019-11-03}}</ref>

== Activism ==
He exposed the aggressive corporate expansion by [[Dhirubhai Ambani]] and believed Ambani's business practices were unhealthy for the nation. Goenka entrusted Gurumurthy with fighting and exposing [[Reliance Industries]]. Gurumurthy's articles in ''[[The Indian Express]]'' created stirs in the corporate world as they publicly denounced a culture of corruption within the troubled conglomerate.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hamish McDonald|title=The Polyester Prince: The Rise of Dhirubhai Ambani |publisher=Allen & Unwin|year=1999|isbn=978-1-86448-468-7}}</ref> [[India Today]] magazine ranked him 30th in India's 50 most powerful people of 2017 list.<ref>{{cite news|title=India's 50 powerful people|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/india-today-top-50-powerful-indians-mukesh-ambani-ratan-tata-kumar-mangalam-birla-gautam-adani-anand-mahindra-srk-amitabh-bacchan/1/928939.html|publisher=[[India Today]]|date=14 April 2017}}</ref>

He has written articles in ''The New Indian Express'' highlighting the [[criticisms of globalization|disadvantages of globalization]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.vigilonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=826&Itemid=42|title=A Debate On GATT|date=1994-01-15|accessdate=2008-12-17}}</ref> His articles espoused the mission of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh|RSS]] as well as an uncompromising commitment to the unity of India.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fravahr.org/spip.php?auteur142|title=S. GURUMURTHY|accessdate=2008-12-17}}</ref>

He was the subject of media coverage when he publicly accused two then-senior Indian bureaucrats of being American [[Mole (espionage)|moles]]. He indirectly named them in the ''New Indian Express'' article titled, "US plots Gujral-Sharif show" dated 20-09-1997.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://members.fortunecity.com/athreya/ie200997.htm|title=US plots Gujral-Sharif show|date=2007-09-20|accessdate=2008-12-17}}</ref> Later, in his article "Not one mole, Mr Prime Minister and Mr Jaswant, but Two!" dated 27-07-2006, he explicitly named Dr. V S Arunachalam and Naresh Chandra Saxena as the two moles.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gurumurthy.net/articledisplay.pl?2006-07-27 |title=Not one mole, Mr Prime Minister and Mr Jaswant, but Two! |date=2006-07-27 |access-date=2008-12-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202072237/http://www.gurumurthy.net/articledisplay.pl?2006-07-27 |archive-date=2 February 2009 }}</ref>

Gurumurthy has been a regular columnist at [[The New Indian Express]]. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/Opinions/columns/s-gurumurthy |title=S. GURUMURTHY}}</ref>

== Politics ==
Gurumurthy has never contested any election. In the 2014 General Election another person, a namesake of Gurumurthy who spelled his name differently ("S Gurumoorthy") was chosen by the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] as its candidate in the [[Nilgiris (Lok Sabha constituency)|Nilgiris parliamentary constituency]] in Tamil nadu
. Gurumurthy denied that he was the candidate in Nilgiris through tweets and interviews. The 4 September 2014 issue of ''[[The Hindu (newspaper)|The Hindu]]'' carried a news item titled, "''Baffled by the unexpected spotlight'',"<ref>{{cite news|title=Baffled by the unexpected spotlight|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/baffled-by-the-unexpected-spotlight/article5884016.ece|accessdate=21 May 2014|newspaper=The Hindu|date=8 Apr 2014}}</ref> in which it said "First his friends called to congratulate him for contesting from Nilgiris Lok Sabha Constituency. Even as he explained that he was not in the fray, another round of calls came on Monday from many who wondered why his nomination papers were rejected. Gurumurthy, Chartered Accountant and columnist, was baffled when his photo was flashed in some television channels which claimed that he was the BJP's candidate in the Nilgiris constituency." The New Indian Express on 8 April 2014 published a clarification, "1 Name, 2 Persons, Too Many Queries", for various news channel's faux pas in mentioning chartered accountant, S Gurumurthy as the candidate who was disqualified from Nilgiris.<ref>{{cite news|title=1 Name, 2 Persons, Too Many Queries|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/1-Name-2-Persons-Too-Many-Queries/2014/04/08/article2155852.ece|accessdate=21 May 2014|newspaper=The New Indian Express|date=8 April 2014|author=Express News Service}}</ref>

=== Influence on the AIADMK ===
Gurumurthy in December 2017, in a tweet called Chief Miniser [[K. Palaniswami|K Palaniswami]] and Deputy Chief Minister [[O. Panneerselvam]] as "impotent leaders" for their action against the supporters of [[TTV Dhinakaran]], when [[AIADMK]] lost the [[Radhakrishnan Nagar|RK Nagar]] Polls. Later he said had used the term, "impotent," in a political context.<ref>{{Cite news|others=Special Correspondent|date=2017-12-27|title=War of words erupts over Gurumurthy’s comments|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/war-of-words-erupts-overgurumurthys-comments/article22282864.ece|access-date=2020-07-13|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister [[D. Jayakumar|D Jayakumar]] said he would take legal action against Gurumurthy, if necessary, for his grossly offensive views.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=TNM|date=27 December 2017|title=‘Only impotent talk about impotency’: TN minister slams S Gurumurthy for comments|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/only-impotent-talk-about-impotency-tn-minister-slams-s-gurumurthy-comments-73763|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-13|website=www.thenewsminute.com}}</ref>

Gurumurthy fuelled a controversy in November 2019 when he claimed in a speech that he was the one who ignited revolt in the AIADMK party, which prompted Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam to carry out 'dharmayudham' (a war for justice) after Jayalalitha's death in 2017.<ref name="Indiatoday12">{{Cite web|last=Nath|first=Akshaya|last2=Vasudevan|first2=Lokpria|date=25 November 2019|title=RSS ideologue Gurumurthy claims he was the reason that sparked revolt in AIADMK, clarifies later|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/rss-ideologue-gurumurthy-claims-reason-sparked-revolt-aiadmk-clarifies-later-1622386-2019-11-25|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-13|website=India Today|language=en}}</ref> Gurumurthy's also revealed that he told O. Pannerselvam that he was not "man enough" to take on the [[V. K. Sasikala|V.K Sasikala]]'s faction after [[J. Jayalalithaa|Jayalalithaa]]’s death.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rao|first=Manasa|date=25 November 2019|title=‘Referred to all of AIADMK’: Gurumurthy backtracks on OPS comment|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/referred-all-aiadmk-gurumurthy-backtracks-ops-comment-112892|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-13|website=www.thenewsminute.com}}</ref> He continued to criticize the ruling government of AIADMK, calling it "a gang of robbers. This received him criticism from the AIADMK. Later he clarified that he only said that why the AIADMK workers were so spineless for [[Prostration|prostrating]] at Sasikala's feet. This created yet another round of criticisms.<ref name="Indiatoday12" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=After his controversial 'man enough' comment on OPS, RSS ideologue backtracks|url=https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2019/11/25/after-his-controversial-man-enough-comment-on-ops-rss-ideologue-backtracks.html|access-date=2020-07-13|website=The Week|language=en}}</ref>

=== Rajinikanth's politics===
Gurumurthy was also known as [[Rajinikanth]]'s 'advisor', has been known to be as someone who pushed for Rajinikanth to join politics. A political analyst said, "It was Gurumurthy who wanted Rajinikanth in politics more than Rajinikanth himself. The long term plan was to make way for a non [[Dravidian party]] option and create a vote bank for BJP." After Rajinikanth announced that he would not be joining politics due to health complications, Gurumurthy said that Rajinikanth would still make a 'political impact' in the [[2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election|2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-29|title=Rajinikanth says not entering politics, his 'advisor' Gurumurthy says 1996 will repeat|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/rajinikanth-says-not-entering-politics-his-advisor-gurumurthy-says-1996-will-repeat-140489|access-date=2021-09-09|website=The News Minute|language=en}}</ref>

== Controversy ==
=== Speech on women's feminity ===
Gurumurthy created a controversy when he said that only 30% of the women are [[Femininity|feminine]] in India during a speech at a hospital in Chennai.<ref>{{Cite web|title=இந்தியாவில் பெண்மை உள்ள பெண்கள் 30% பேர்தான்: எஸ்.குருமூர்த்தி சர்ச்சை பேச்சு|url=https://www.dinamani.com/latest-news/2019/aug/25/only-30-of-women-in-india-are-virginity--s-gurumurthy-controversy-speech-3221151.html|access-date=2020-07-19|website=Dinamani}}</ref> He also said that femininity has diminished in the present day women and the number of feminine women in India has decreased and women who are not feminine have become more. He also said women in femininity are like [[deities]] and he cannot accept women who are not feminine as deities.<ref>{{Cite web|title=“பெண்மையை நாம் இழந்து வருகிறோம்”- குருமூர்த்தி|url=http://www.puthiyathalaimurai.com/newsview/54002/Gurumurthy-Latest-Speech|access-date=2020-07-19|website=Puthiyathalaimurai|language=ta}}</ref> The speech received wide range of criticism.<ref>{{Cite web|last=I|first=Shyamsundar|date=2019-08-25|title=இந்தியாவில் பெண்மை உள்ள பெண்கள் 30% பேர்தான் உள்ளனர்.. எஸ்.குருமூர்த்தி சர்ச்சை பேச்சு.. வைரல்!|url=https://tamil.oneindia.com/news/chennai/s-gurumurthy-speech-about-women-makes-new-controversy-361093.html|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-19|website=tamil.oneindia.com|language=ta}}</ref> The [[All India Democratic Women's Association]] protested in [[Puliakulam|Puliyakulam]] against him for his comments on women.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Team|first=SimpliCity News|date=2019-08-28|title=All India Democratic Women's Association protest against Thuglaq editor Gurumoorthy for criticising women|url=https://simplicity.in/coimbatore/english/news/57383/All-India-Democratic-Womenamp039s-Association-protest-against-Thuglaq-editor-Gurumoorthy-for-criticising-women|access-date=2020-07-19|website=simplicity.in|language=en}}</ref>

==Notes==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurumurthy, S}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian accountants]]
[[Category:Indian business and financial journalists|s.,Gurumurthy]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Reserve Bank of India]]

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Swaminathan Gurumurthy