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

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

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

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

Early life

Immanuvel Devendrar was born in Sellur, Mudukulathur, 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 The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule i ...

movement from the age of 18 and was imprisoned for three months because of it. In 1945, he enlisted in the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

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 Virudhunagar is a c ...

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 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 a ...

. 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 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 The Ramnad riots or the Mudukulathur riots were a series of violent clashes that occurred between July and September 1957 in the Ramnad district and in southern Tamil Nadu, India. The violence was between Thevars supporting the Forward Bloc, and ...

, in which 42 Dalits were killed, occurred as a consequence of Devendrar's murder, but approx. 20 supporters of

U. Muthuramalingam Thevar Ukkirapandi Muthuramalinga Thevar (30 October 1908 – 30 October 1963), also known as Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, was an Indian freedom struggle fighter, politician, patriarch of Thevar community and a close accomplice of Subash Chand ...

and 30 Pallar, Schedule Caste people died according to

data, not counting the injured personnel.

Legacy

The anniversary of Devendrar's death is celebrated annually as

Devendrar Jayanti Devendrar Jayanthi is a festival celebrated annually on 11 September. It is organised by various political parties, community organisations and civil societies in Southern Tamil Nadu to commemorate the memory of Immanuvel Devendrar, a freedom fi ...

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