Pappa Umanath (5 August 1931 – 17 December 2010) was an Indian politician from the southern state of

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 ...

and a women's rights activist who co-founded the

All India Democratic Women's Association All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) is a women's organisation committed to achieving democracy, equality and women's emancipation. It has an organizational presence in 23 states in India, with a current membership of more than 11 m ...

in 1973. She was a member of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

and was elected from the Thiruverumbur Constituency to the

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members of whom are democratically elected using the First-past-the-post voting, First-past-the-post system. The pres ...

in 1989.

Life and career

Pappa Umanath was born as Dhanalakshmi on 5 August 1931 in Kovilpathu, near

Karaikal Karaikal ( /kʌdɛkʌl/, french: Karikal /kaʁikal/) is a town of the Indian Union Territory of Puducherry. Karaikal was sold to the French by the Rajah of Thanjavur and became a French Colony in 1739. The French held control, with occasi ...

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now in Puducherry, a Union Territory in India). Her mother, Lakshmi, alias Alamelu, moved to

Golden Rock, Tiruchirappalli Golden Rock ( ta, பொன்மலை, ''Ponmalai'') is one of the four zones of Tiruchirappalli. The railway colony and railway workshop are nearby Demographics The majority of the area is occupied by Golden Rock Railway Workshop and its ...

after her husband's death. Lakshmi started a canteen near the

Golden Rock Railway Workshop The Golden Rock Railway Workshop (officially the Central Workshop, Golden Rock, abbreviated GOC), in Ponmalai (Golden Rock), Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, is one of three railway workshops serving Indian Railways' Southern Railway zone. The w ...

for railway workers. The railway workers who came to the canteen used to call Dhanalakshmi "Pappa" (small girl), which became the origin of her name. At a young age, Pappa participated in several agitations along with her mother and railway workers. Dhanalakshmi joined the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

(CPI) in 1945 and moved to Madras (now

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

). In 1948, the CPI was banned by the Government of India and members of the party were arrested, including Dhanalakshmi, her mother, and a number of the party's leaders. In the jail, when members of the party went on a fast against authorities, her mother died after 23 days of fasting. Pappa was not allowed by the jail authorities to attend her mother's funeral, as she refused to quit the party. In 1952, Dhanalakshmi married fellow party member

R. Umanath R. Umanath (21 December 1921 - 21 May 2014) was a communist politician from Tamil Nadu, India, and a Politburo member of Communist Party of India (Marxist) from 1998. He was born in 1921 in Kasaragod, Kerala and moved to Madras during his stud ...

in a self-respect marriage. She was arrested again during the

Sino-Indian war The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tib ...

. In 1964, her party split in two, and she joined the newly formed Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). She co-founded the All India Democratic Women's Association in 1973 and became its general secretary. She contested the

1984 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election The eighth legislative assembly election for Tamil Nadu was held on 24 December 1984. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won the election and its general secretary, incumbent M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R) was sworn in as Chief Minis ...

from Thiruverumbur Constituency, but lost. She won the election in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

but lost again in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

. She had three daughters, one of whom was U. Vasuki, a CPI(M) politician. She died on 17 December 2010 in

Trichy Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Umanath, Pappa 1931 births 2010 deaths Indian women's rights activists Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu MLAs 1989–1991 Indian women activists Activists from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians People from Nagapattinam district Politicians from Tiruchirappalli Women members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly