There are two reasons why these memes have increased in numbers since January 2016. First, the death of Jayalalithaa, which left the state with no one to control anti-social and anti-national elements. Some of these elements, who propagate separatism, became active after her demise and the Tamil Nadu police have simply failed to control or check them.

When Jayalalithaa was alive, media would think twice before coming out with anything criticising the AIADMK government. Any critical report would invite a defamation case, and it is no surprise that over 200 such cases were pending in various courts when Jayalalithaa breathed her last. Slapping of defamation charges for criticism isn’t the way to go about, but the argument here is that it would dissuade mischievous elements from indulging in unwanted acts. It is also one reason why the electronic media in particular is seen supporting all sorts of mischievous elements triggering protests.

The second reason for not just these memes increasing but also protests in Tamil Nadu rising is the political leadership vacuum. Besides Jayalalithaa’s absence, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M Karunanidhi, who had been active in state politics from the 1960s, and alternately ruled since 1991 till 2011, became inactive due to ill-health. The vacuum resulted in many aspirants for the chief minister’s chair challenging the current incumbent, Edappadi K Palaniswami.

Also, those who were coming up with these memes had another objective. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was seen as one that could have challenged DMK and AIADMK in the near future. How do you stop the BJP in its tracks? So, agitations after agitations were launched and these meme producers had a field day, justifying the protests – from jallikattu to Sterlite – and running down the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.