Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (; VCK) formerly known as the Dalit Panthers of India or the Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam (; DPI) is an Indian
social movement
A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and may ...
and political party that seeks to combat caste based
discrimination
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
, active in the state of Tamil Nadu. The party also has a strong emphasis on Tamil nationalism. Its chairman is
Thol. Thirumavalavan
Tholkappiyan Thirumavalavan (born 17 August 1962), better known as Thol. Thirumavalavan is a political leader, scholar and activist from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is a Member of Parliament from Chidambaram. Founder and Presid ...
, a lawyer from Chennai and its general secretary is the writer Ravikumar.
History
The Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam was formed in 1982 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. The group was found to seek protection of Dalits from the
caste atrocities
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 cultural ...
. Founded by a group of disaffected Dalits under the leadership of M. Malalchami, it emerged as a loosely organised group of local activists seeking assistance and protection through the association of a larger movement. The movement was inspired by the
Dalit Panthers of India
The Dalit Panthers are a social organisation that seeks to combat Caste system in India, caste discrimination. It was led by a group of Mahar writers and poets, including Raja Dhale, Namdeo Dhasal, and J. V. Pawar in some time between the seco ...
, a social movement which itself had formed earlier in the 1970s in
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
which itself was inspired by the
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
, a socialist movement that sought to combat racial discrimination in the United States.
In 1989, after the death of the founder of Dalit Panthers of India (DPI), Thirumavalavan became its leader. In the 1990s the party grew by highlighting
discrimination
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
and
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 ...
-based violence. In 1999, VCK contested elections for the first time.
VCK was allotted different election symbols in every election. In 2014, Madras HC ordered the Election Commission of India to consider VCK's request for
star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
as their election symbol.
Party principles
The main aim of the party is to abolish the differences among Tamil people and to lift up the socio-economically weaker sections of society. The party supported the freedom movement of Tamil people in Tamil Eelam, as well as the security of Tamil people living abroad. The party also declared that
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...
should be charged with war crimes for the alleged assassination of thousands of innocent Tamil people during war against the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
. In the Parliament of India in May 2012, Thirumavalavan joined other leaders and raised issue of the Ambedkar cartoon, sparking a controversy in Parliament.
Ahead of the 2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, Thirumavalavan stated his willingness to form a coalition with any party apart from the DMK, AIADMK, BJP and PMK.
Tamil Eelam
VCK formed
Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization
The Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization (TESO) was an Eelam Tamils, Eelam Tamil supporters organisation founded in 1985 with M. Karunanidhi, Dr. Kalaignar Karunanidhi as President and K. Veeramani and Nedumaran as members for the establishment ...
(TESO) along with DMK, DK, NTK, and demonstrated protests demanding credential probe into war time crimes against the Sri Lankan government during the war between LTTE and the Sri Lankan government. Thousands of innocent Tamil people were brutally tortured and murdered during the war. Many countries raised complaints against the Sri Lankan government in the United Nations International Criminal Court of Justice. VCK demanded that former Sri Lankan President Rajapakse should be charged with war crimes. Many of its party men were arrested by Tamil Nadu police for creating public discomfort during protests against the Sri Lankan government. The party is heavily criticised for supporting LTTE and its leader
Prabakaran
Velupillai Prabhakaran (; ta, வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன்; , (26 November 1954 – 18 May 2009) was a Sri Lankan Tamil guerrilla and the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ...
, since LTTE is banned in India.
VCK is accused of promoting Tamil nationalism and supporting the banned group
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
. Although major Tamil political parties DMK and ADMK both are accused for indirectly supporting LTTE, VCK is accused of supporting LTTE leader openly in its party posters. It is alleged that LTTE involved in the assassination of Former Indian prime minister
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...
. VCK Party is demanding release of the Rajiv Gandhi murder accusers along with major Tamil parties like NTK, MDMK, PMK, SMK, AIADMK and DMK. VCK Party also celebrated the birth day of Slain LTTE Leader Prabakaran along with other Tamil parties.
Controversies
In April 2019, members of the
RSS
RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many di ...
earthen pot
Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ce ...
, the
election symbol
An electoral symbol is a standardised symbol allocated to an independent candidate or political party by a country's election commission for use in election ballots.
Usage
Symbols are used by parties in their campaigning, and printed on ballot p ...
of VCK at the village of
Ponparappi
Ponparappi is a village in the Sendurai taluk of Ariyalur district, Tamil Nadu, India.
Demographics
As per the 2001 census, Ponparappi had a total population of 4,614 with 2,300 males and 2,314 females. Ariyalur block, Tiruchi. The incident happened in front of the Panchayat Office where the Tamil Nadu general election polling was going on which lead to a quarrel. This is said to have resulted a retaliatory violence against the Dalits. ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
'' reported a mob of 100 engaged in violence against the Dalits and at least twenty tiled houses which had the VCK symbol were totally damaged. A. Kathir of Evidence, a rights organisation based in Madurai claimed 13 people were admitted at hospitals, 25 houses were fully damaged and 115 houses were damaged. Tirumavalavan after visiting the area, told the media that the PMK and Hindu Munnani were responsible for the violence. In December 2022, VCK protested at the ManuwadiHindutva
supremacist
Supremacism is the belief that a certain group of people is superior to all others. The supposed superior people can be defined by age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, language, social class, ideology, nation, culture, ...
disrespect and
cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...
Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly of India, Constit ...