You are right, for someone from south India rama wouldnt mean anything other than a nice story. For them Murugan or Iyyappan might mean more.
People like Tarun and his supporters only speak for a few brahmins in north India, and there are a whole bunch of people who dont realize that and follow the idea.
Ram is one millionth part of the wide array of hindu beliefs and gods. Ram in no way defines Indian nationality or ancestry or culture or whatever in any way. This is just a propaganda by some fundamentalists
