Immanuvel Devendrar (9 October 1924 – 11 September 1957), who later took the name Immanuel Sekaran, was a freedom fighter,

civil rights activist Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

, former soldier and a party worker for the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, India, who was murdered by a group of people from another caste.

Early life

Immanuvel Devendrar was born in Sellur,

Mudukulathur Mudukulathur is a panchayat town in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu Demography India census, Mudukulathur had a population of 13,130. Males constituted 50% of the population and fe ...

, Tamil Nadu on 9 October 1924 to Vedhanayagam, a school teacher and founder of Devendra Kula Vellalar Sangam.

Politics

He took part in the Quit India movement from the age of 18 and was imprisoned for three months because of it. In 1945, he enlisted in the British Indian Army and, upon his discharge, he returned to his native

Ramanathapuram district Ramanathapuram District, also known as Ramnad District, is one of the 38 districts an administrative districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The old Ramanathapuram District consists of Present day Virudhunagar and Sivagangai district ...

to work for the Indian National Congress party (INC). His time in the army had caused him to question the historic oppression of the

Pallar The Pallar, who prefer to be called Mallar, are an agricultural community from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Pallars traditionally inhabited the fertile wetland area referred to as ''Marutham'' in the literary devices of the Sangam landsc ...

caste in his district, which was particularly severe. Devendrar worked to improve the education, rights and representation of the Pallars, of which he was a member. He tried to mobilise them to demand equality. The INC saw him as a useful opposition to Pasumpon Mutharamalingam Thevar, who had defected from the party to join the

Forward Bloc The All India Forward Bloc ( AIFB) is a left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose. The party re-established as an independent political party ...

. The party thought that he might be a worthy future member of the Legislative Assembly and groomed him for that end. It was for this reason that he converted to the Hindu religion and took the name Immanuel Sekaran.

Assassination

Background

The Pallars were often in dispute with the

Thevar The Mukkulathor people, who are also collectively known as Thevar, are a community or group of communities native to the central and southern districts of Tamil Nadu, India. They comprise the Agamudayar, Kallar and Maravar communities that sha ...

caste and the relationship between the communities became fraught following a by-election in 1957. A peace meeting was called with the district collector in presence. When Muthuramalinga Thevar entered this meeting, everybody stood up with the exception of Immanuel Sekaran. Sekaran was asked why he did not stand up when a leader entered. Sekaran replied, 'He is not a leader to me. He wanted to destroy my whole community.' This hurt Thevar's ego very much and as a consequence, the talks came to an abrupt end without any solution in sight.

Incident

Devandrar was ambushed and murdered by a group of Thevars for his activity on 11 September 1957.

Aftermath

Dravidian parties accused that Thevar himself had some responsibility for the death. Thevar was in fact arrested but later released without charge. The 1957 Ramnad riots, in which 42 Dalits were killed, occurred as a consequence of Devendrar's murder, but approx. 20 supporters of U. Muthuramalingam Thevar and 30

Schedule Caste The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

people died according to 1957 Ramnad riots data, not counting the injured personnel.

Legacy

The anniversary of Devendrar's death is celebrated annually as Devendrar Jayanti by Devendra Kula community people in Tamil Nadu.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devendrar, Immanuvel 1924 births 1957 deaths People from Ramanathapuram district Indian Tamil people Activists from Tamil Nadu Assassinated activists Indian National Congress politicians from Tamil Nadu Indian independence activists from Tamil Nadu Murder in India Caste-related violence in India