Periyar E. V. Ramasamy

Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'Father of the Dravidian movement'. He rebelled against Brahminical dominance and gender and caste inequality in Tamil Nadu.Thakurta, Paranjoy Guha; Shankar Raghuraman (2004). ''A Time of Coalitions: Divided We Stand''. Sage Publications. New Delhi. p. 230. . Since 2021, the Indian state of Tamil Nadu celebrates his birth anniversary as 'Social Justice Day'.

Ramasamy joined the Indian National Congress in 1919, but resigned in 1925 when he felt that the party was only serving the interests of Brahmins. He questioned the subjugation of non-Brahmin Dravidians as Brahmins enjoyed gifts and donations from non-Brahmins but opposed and discriminated against non-Brahmins in cultural and religious matters. In 1924, Ramasamy participated in non-violent agitation (satyagraha) in Vaikom, Travancore. From 1929 to 1932 Ramasamy made a tour of British Malaya, Europe, and Soviet Union which influenced him. In 1939, Ramasamy became the head of the Justice Party, and in 1944, he changed its name to ''Dravidar Kazhagam''. The party later split with one group led by C. N. Annadurai forming the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in 1949.Pandian, J., (1987). ''Caste, Nationalism, and Ethnicity''. Popular Prakashan Private Ltd.: Bombay. pp. 62, 64. . While continuing the Self-Respect Movement, he advocated for an independent Dravida Nadu (land of the Dravidians).Chatterjee, Debi 981(2004) ''Up Against Caste: Comparative study of Ambedkar and Periyar''. Rawat Publications: Chennai. pp. 40-42.

Ramasamy promoted the principles of rationalism, self-respect, women’s rights and eradication of caste. He opposed the exploitation and marginalisation of the non-Brahmin Dravidian people of South India and the imposition of what he considered Indo-Aryan India.

History

Early years

Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy was born on 17 September 1879 to a Kannada Balija merchant family in Erode, then a part of the Coimbatore district of the Madras Presidency.Journal of Indian history, Volume 54, University of Allahabad, p. 175 Ramasamy's father was Venkatappa Nayakar (or Venkata), and his mother was Chinnathyee, Muthammal. He had one elder brother named Krishnaswamy and two sisters named Kannamma and Ponnuthoy. He later came to be known as "Periyar" meaning 'respected one' or 'elder' in the Tamil.Merchant Caste of Telugu Ancestry who descended from the migrant commanders of Vijayanagar Empire

Ramasamy married when he was 19, and had a daughter who lived for only 5 months. His first wife, Nagammai, died in 1933. Gopalakrishnan, p. 3. Ramasamy married for a second time in July 1948. His second wife, Maniammai, continued Ramasamy's social work after his death in 1973, and his ideas then were advocated by Dravidar Kazhagam. Gopalakrishnan, pp. 50, 52.

In 1929, Ramasamy announced the deletion of his caste title ''Naicker'' from his name at the First Provincial Self-Respect Conference of Chengalpattu.Saraswathi, p. 6. He could speak two Dravidian languages: Kannada and Tamil. Ramasamy attended school for five years after which he joined his father's trade at the age of 12. He used to listen to Tamil Vaishnavite gurus who gave discourses in his house enjoying his father's hospitality. At a young age, he began questioning the apparent contradictions in the Hindu mythological stories. As Ramasamy grew, he felt that people used religion only as a mask to deceive innocent people and therefore took it as one of his duties in life to warn people against superstitions and priests. Veeramani 1992, Introduction – xi.

Kashi Pilgrimage Incident

In 1904, Ramasamy went on a pilgrimage to Kashi to visit the revered Shiva temple of Kashi Vishwanath. Though regarded as one of the holiest sites of Hinduism, he witnessed immoral activities such as begging, and floating dead bodies. His frustrations extended to functional Hinduism in general when he experienced what he called Brahmanic exploitation. Diehl

However, one particular incident in Kasi had a profound impact on Ramasamy's ideology and future work. At the worship site there were free meals offered to guests. To Ramasamy's shock, he was refused meals at choultries, which exclusively fed Brahmins. Due to extreme hunger, Ramasamy felt compelled to enter one of the eateries disguised as a Brahmin with a sacred thread on his bare chest, but was betrayed by his moustache. The gatekeeper at the temple concluded that Ramasamy was not a Brahmin, as Brahmins were not permitted by the Hindu ''shastras'' to have moustaches. He not only prevented Ramasamy's entry but also pushed him rudely into the street.

As his hunger became intolerable, Ramasamy was forced to feed on leftovers from the streets. Around this time, he realised that the eatery which had refused him entry was built by a wealthy non-Brahmin from South India. This discriminatory attitude dealt a blow to Ramasamy's regard for Hinduism, for the events he had witnessed at Kasi were completely different from the picture of Kasi he had in mind, as a holy place which welcomed all. Ramasamy was a theist until his visit to Kasi, after which his views changed and he became an atheist. Gopalakrishnan, pp. 14–17.

Member of Congress Party (1919–1925)

Ramasamy joined the Indian National Congress in 1919 after quitting his business and resigning from public posts. He held the chairmanship of Erode Municipality and wholeheartedly undertook constructive programs spreading the use of Khadi, picketing toddy shops, boycotting shops selling foreign cloth, and eradicating untouchability. In 1921, Ramasamy courted imprisonment for picketing toddy shops in Erode. When his wife as well as his sister joined the agitation, it gained momentum, and the administration was forced to come to a compromise. He was again arrested during the Non-Cooperation movement and the Temperance movement. In 1922, Ramasamy was elected the President of the Madras Presidency Congress Committee during the Tirupur session, where he advocated strongly for reservation in government jobs and education. His attempts were defeated in the Congress party due to discrimination and indifference, which led to his leaving the party in 1925.

Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–1925)

According to the prevalent caste system in Kerala and the rest of India, low-caste Hindus were denied entry into temples. In Kerala, they were denied permission to walk on the roads that led to the temples also. (Kerala state was formed in 1956; earlier it was broadly divided into Malabar (North Kerala), Cochin and Travancore kingdoms).

In the Kakinada meet of the Congress Party in 1923, T K Madhavan presented a report citing the discrimination faced by the depressed castes in Kerala. That session decided to promote movements against untouchability.

In Kerala, a committee was formed comprising people of different castes to fight untouchability in the region. The committee was chaired by K Kelappan; the rest of the members were T K Madhavan, Velayudha Menon, Kurur Neelakantan Namboodiripad and T R Krishnaswami Iyer. In February 1924, they decided to launch a ‘Keralaparyatanam’ to gain temple entry and also the right to use public roads for every Hindu irrespective of caste or creed.

In Vaikom, a small town in Kerala state, then Travancore, there were strict laws of untouchability in and around the temple area. Dalits, also known as Harijans, were not allowed into the close streets around and leading to the temple, let alone inside it. Anti-caste feelings were growing and in 1924 Vaikom was chosen as a suitable place for an organised ''Satyagraha.'' Under his guidance a movement had already begun with the aim of giving all castes the right to enter the temples. Thus, agitations and demonstrations took place. On 14 April, Ramasamy and his wife Nagamma arrived in Vaikom. They were immediately arrested and imprisoned for participation. In spite of Gandhi's objection to non-Keralites and non-Hindus taking part, Ramasamy and his followers continued to give support to the movement until it was withdrawn. He received the title ''Vaikom Veeran'', given by his followers who participated in the Satyagraha.

The way in which the ''Vaikom Satyagraha'' events have been recorded provides a clue to the image of the respective organisers. In an article entitle ''Gandhi and Ambedkar, A Study in Leadership'', Eleanor Zelliot relates the 'Vaikom Satyagraha', including Gandhi's negotiations with the temple authorities in relation to the event. Furthermore, the editor of Ramasamy's ''Thoughts'' states that Brahmins purposely suppressed news about Ramasamy's participation. A leading Congress magazine, ''Young India'', in its extensive reports on Vaikom never mentions Ramasamy.

The movement gained all-India prominence and support came from far and wide. The Akalis of Punjab lend their support by setting up kitchens to provide food to the Satyagrahis. Even Christian and Muslim leaders came forward for support. This was shunned by Gandhi who wanted the movement to be an intra-Hindu affair. On advice from Gandhi, the movement was withdrawn temporarily in April 1924. After the talks with caste-Hindus failed, the leaders resumed the movement. Leaders T K Madhavan and K P Kesava Menon were arrested. Ramasamy came from Tamil Nadu to give his support. He was arrested.

On 1 October 1924, a group of Savarnas marched in a procession and submitted a petition to the Regent Maharani Sethulakshmi Bai of Travancore with about 25,000 signatures for temple entry to everyone. Gandhi also met with the Regent Maharani. This procession of savarnas was led by Mannath Padmanabhan Nair. Starting with about 500 people at Vaikom, the number increased to about 5000 when the procession reached Thiruvananthapuram in November 1924.

Self-Respect Movement

Ramasamy and his followers campaigned constantly to influence and pressure the government to take measures to remove social inequality (abolish untouchability, manual scavenging system etc.), even while other nationalist forerunners focused on the struggle for political independence. The Self-Respect Movement was described from the beginning as "dedicated to the goal of giving non-Brahmins a sense of pride based on their Dravidian past". Diehl, pp. 77-78

In 1952, the Ramasamy ''Self-Respect Movement Institution'' was registered with a list of objectives of the institution from which may be quoted as

for the diffusion of useful knowledge of political education; to allow people to live a life of freedom from slavery to anything against reason and self respect; to do away with needless customs, meaningless ceremonies, and blind superstitious beliefs in society; to put an end to the present social system in which caste, religion, community and traditional occupations based on the accident of birth, have chained the mass of the people and created "superior" and "inferior" classes... and to give people equal rights; to completely eradicate untouchability and to establish a united society based on brother/ sisterhood; to give equal rights to women; to prevent child marriages and marriages based on law favourable to one sect, to conduct and encourage love marriages, widow marriages, inter caste and inter-religious marriages and to have the marriages registered under the Civil Law; and to establish and maintain homes for orphans and widows and to run educational institutions.

Propagation of the philosophy of ''self respect'' became the full-time activity of Ramasamy since 1925. A Tamil weekly ''Kudi Arasu'' started in 1925, while the English journal ''Revolt'' started in 1928 carried on the propaganda among the English educated people.Saraswathi, p. 4. The ''Self-Respect Movement'' began to grow fast and received the sympathy of the heads of the Justice Party from the beginning. In May 1929, a conference of Self-Respect Volunteers was held at Pattukkotai under the presidency of S. Guruswami. K.V. Alagiriswami took charge as the head of the volunteer band. Conferences followed in succession throughout the Tamil districts of the former Madras Presidency. A training school in Self-Respect was opened at Erode, the home town of Ramasamy. The object was not just to introduce social reform but to bring about a social revolution to foster a new spirit and build a new society.Saraswathi, p. 19.

International travel (1929–1932)

Between 1929 and 1935, under the strain of the Great Depression, political thinking worldwide received a jolt from the spread of international communism.Saraswathi, p. 54. Indian political parties, movements and considerable sections of leadership were also affected by inter-continental ideologies. The Self-Respect Movement also came under the influence of the leftist philosophies and institutions. Ramasamy, after establishing the ''Self-Respect Movement'' as an independent institution, began to look for ways to strengthen it politically and socially. To accomplish this, he studied the history and politics of different countries, and personally observed these systems at work.

Ramasamy toured Malaya for a month, from December 1929 to January 1930, to propagate the ''self-respect'' philosophy. Embarking on his journey from Nagapattinam with his wife Nagammal and his followers, Ramasamy was received by 50,000 Tamil Malaysians in Penang. During the same month, he inaugurated the Tamils Conference, convened by the Tamils Reformatory Sangam in Ipoh, and then went to Singapore. In December 1931 he undertook a tour of Europe, accompanied by S. Ramanathan and Erode Ramu, to personally acquaint himself with their political systems, social movements, way of life, economic and social progress and administration of public bodies. He visited Egypt, Greece, Turkey, the Soviet Union, Germany, England, Spain, France and Portugal, staying in Russia for three months. On his return journey he halted at Ceylon and returned to India in November 1932.

The tour shaped the political ideology of Ramasamy to achieve the social concept of Self-Respect. The communist system in the Soviet Union appealed to him as appropriately suited to deal with the social ills of the country. Thus, on socio-economic issues Ramasamy was Marxist, but he did not advocate for abolishing private ownership. Immediately after his return, Ramasamy, in alliance with the enthusiastic communist, M. Singaravelar, began to work out a socio-political scheme incorporating socialist and self-respect ideals. This marked a crucial stage of development in the ''Self-Respect Movement'' which got politicised and found its compatibility in Tamil Nadu.

Opposition to Hindi Imposition

In 1937, when Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari became the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency, he introduced Hindi as a compulsory language of study in schools, thereby igniting a series of anti-Hindi agitations. Tamil nationalists, the Justice Party under Sir A. T. Panneerselvam, and Ramasamy organised anti-Hindi protests in 1938 which ended with numerous arrests by the Rajaji government.

During the same year, the slogan "Tamil Nadu for Tamilians"Saraswathi, pp. 118-119. was first used by Ramasamy in protest against the introduction of Hindi in schools. He claimed that the introduction of Hindi was a dangerous mechanism used by the Aryans to infiltrate Dravidian culture. He reasoned that the adoption of Hindi would make Tamils subordinate to the Hindi-speaking North Indians. Ramasamy claimed that Hindi would not only halt the progress of Tamil people, but would also completely destroy their culture and nullify the progressive ideas that had been successfully inculcated through Tamil in the recent decades.

Cutting across party lines, South Indian politicians rallied together in their opposition to Hindi.Saraswathi, pp. 88-89. There were recurrent anti-Hindi agitations in 1948, 1952 and 1965.

As President of the Justice Party (1938–1944)

A political party known as the ''South Indian Libertarian Federation'' (commonly referred to as ''Justice Party'') was founded in 1916, principally to oppose the economic and political power of the Brahmin groups. The party's goal was to render social justice to the non-Brahmin groups. To gain the support of the masses, non-Brahmin politicians began propagating an ideology of equality among non-Brahmin castes. Brahmanical priesthood and Sanskritic social class-value hierarchy were blamed for the existence of inequalities among non-Brahmin ''caste'' groups.

In 1937, when the government required that Hindi be taught in the school system, Ramasamy organised opposition to this policy through the ''Justice Party''. After 1937, the Dravidian movement derived considerable support from the student community. In later years, opposition to Hindi played a big role in the politics of Tamil Nadu. The fear of the Hindi language had its origin in the conflict between Brahmins and non-Brahmins. To the Tamils, acceptance of Hindi in the school system was a form of bondage. When the ''Justice Party'' weakened in the absence of mass support, Ramasamy took over the leadership of the party after being jailed for opposing Hindi in 1939. Under his tutelage the party prospered, but the party's conservative members, most of whom were rich and educated, withdrew from active participation.

Dravidar Kazhagam (1944–onwards)

Formation of the ''Dravidar Kazhagam''

At a rally in 1944, Ramasamy, in his capacity as the leader of the Justice Party, declared that the party would henceforth be known as the ''Dravidar Kazhagam'', or "Dravidian Association". However, a few who disagreed with Ramasamy started a splinter group, claiming to be the original Justice Party. This party was led by veteran Justice Party leader P. T. Rajan and survived until 1957.

The ''Dravidar Kazhagam'' came to be well known among the urban communities and students. Villages were influenced by its message. Hindi, and ceremonies that had become associated with Brahmanical priesthood, were identified as alien symbols that should be eliminated from Tamil culture. Brahmins, who were regarded as the guardians of such symbols, came under verbal attack. From 1949 onwards, the ''Dravidar Kazhagam'' intensified social reformist work and put forward the fact that superstitions were the cause for the degeneration of Dravidians. The ''Dravidar Kazhagam'' vehemently fought for the abolition of untouchability amongst the ''Dalits''. It also focused its attention on the liberation of women, women's education, willing marriage, widow marriage, orphanages and mercy homes.International Tamil Language Foundation, (2000).''Tirukkural/ The Handbok of Tamil Culture and Heritage''. ITLF: Chicago, p. 1346. .

Split with Annadurai

In 1949, Ramasamy's chief lieutenant, Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai, established a separate association called the ''Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam'' (DMK), or Dravidian Progressive Federation. This was due to differences between the two, while Ramasamy advocated a separate independent Dravidian or Tamil state, Annadurai compromised with the Delhi government, at the same time claiming increased state independence. Ramasamy was convinced that individuals and movements that undertake the task of eradicating the social evils in the Indian sub-continent have to pursue the goal with devotion and dedication without deviating from the path and with uncompromising zeal. Thus, if they contest elections aiming to assume political power, they would lose vigour and a sense of purpose. But among his followers, there were those who had a different view, wanting to enter into politics and have a share in running the government. They were looking for an opportunity to part with Ramasamy. Thus, when Ramasamy married Maniammai on 9 July 1948, they quit the ''Dravidar Kazhagam'', stating that Ramasamy married Maniammayar who was the daughter of Kanagasabhai when he was 70 and she 32. Those who parted company with Ramasamy joined the DMK. Though the DMK split from the ''Dravidar Kazhagam'', the organisation made efforts to carry on Ramasamy's Self-Respect Movement to villagers and urban students. The DMK advocated the thesis that the Tamil language was much richer than Sanskrit and Hindi in content, and thus was a key which opened the door to subjects to be learned. The ''Dravidar Kazhagam'' continued to counter Brahminism, Indo-Aryan propaganda, and uphold the Dravidians' right of self-determination.Geetha, V.; S.V. Rajadurai, (1987). ''Towards a Non-Brahmin Millennium: From Iyothee Thass to Periyar''. M. Sen for SAMYA: Calcutta, p. 481. .

Later years

In 1956, despite warnings from P. Kakkan, the President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, Ramasamy organised a procession to the Marina to burn pictures of the Hindu God Rama. Ramasamy was subsequently arrested and confined to prison.

The activities of Ramasamy continued when he went to Bangalore in 1958 to participate in the All India Official Language Conference. There he stressed the need to retain English as the Union Official Language instead of Hindi. Five years later, Ramasamy travelled to North India to advocate the eradication of the caste system. In his last meeting at Thiagaraya Nagar, Chennai on 19 December 1973, Ramasamy declared a call for action to gain social equality and a dignified way of life. On 24 December 1973, Ramasamy died at the age of 94.

Principles and legacy

Ramasamy spent over fifty years giving speeches, propagating the realisation that everyone is an equal citizen and the differences on the basis of caste and creed were man-made to keep the innocent and ignorant as underdogs in the society. Although Ramasamy's speeches were targeted towards the illiterate and more mundane masses, scores of educated people were also swayed. Gopalakrishnan, pp. 59-60. Ramasamy viewed reasoning as a special tool. According to him, all were blessed with this tool, but very few used it. Thus Ramasamy used reasoning with respect to subjects of social interest in his presentations to his audiences. Communal differences in Tamil society were considered by many to be deep-rooted features until Ramasamy came to the scene. Gopalakrishnan, pp. 45–49.

Rationalism

The bedrock of Ramasamy's principles and the movements that he started was rationalism. He thought that an insignificant minority in society was exploiting the majority

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