Vaiyapuri Gopalsamy, better known as Vaiko, is an Indian politician. He is a member of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using ...

, the upper house of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the Pe ...

from

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— ...

. He is the founder and

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ( 'Renaissance Dravidian Progressive Federation') is a political party active in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. It was established by Vaiko in 1994 after he left the Dravida Munnetra K ...

(MDMK), a political party active mainly in the Indian state of

. He was earlier elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past- ...

, the lower house of the

from

Sivakasi Sivakasi () is a city and Municipal Corporation in Virudhunagar District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This city is known for its fireworks, firecracker, matchbox and printing industries. Sivakasi city alone meets about 90% fire cracker ...

Birth

Vaiko was born in

Kalingapatty Kalingapatty is a panchayat Village in Tenkasi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This village is under the control of Kuruvikulam block, Sankarankoil taluk Notable personalities * Vaiko Vaiyapuri Gopalsamy, better known as V ...

near

Sankarankovil Sankarankovil is a city in Tenkasi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was formerly called Sankaranayinarkoil. Sankarankovil is the home to the Sankara Narayanar Temple . History Sankarankovil is home to the Sankara Narayanar T ...

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 ...

Education

He graduated with a Gold Medal in his Bachelor of arts degree in economics from St. Xavier's College, Palayamkottai and masters from Presidency College,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

. He obtained his bachelor's degree in law from

Madras Law College Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, commonly known by its former name Madras Law College, is a law school, located in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. It is also referred to as Government Law College or GLC, Chennai. It was established in ...

. He is an avid reader and orator known for his oratory skills both in Tamil and English. He has two daughters and a son.

Political career

Vaiko is now the general secretary of the MDMK party. Vaiko was a part of

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory) ...

(DMK) and was formerly seen as the ideological protege of former

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with t ...

, Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. Vaiko was detained for more than a year in 1976-77 during the

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

and for 40 days on charges of organising black flag demonstration against former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is n ...

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

's visit to

in October 1977. He has been arrested multiple times for demonstrations especially during the 1986-87 anti Hindi agitations. He entered the

in 1978 and has been member of the Upper House for three terms. He has also been elected to the

twice. In 1993, Vaiko started

MDMK The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ( 'Renaissance Dravidian Progressive Federation') is a political party active in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. It was established by Vaiko in 1994 after he left the Dravida Munnetra K ...

due to differences with

Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...

. Vaiko was known as "Lion Of Parliament" due to his vociferous speeches in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. Vaiko protested against

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Canar ...

's demand for a new dam at Mullaperiyar and proposed building of dams in Pambar and Siruvani. Vaiko also supported national interlinking of rivers and Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project. Vaiko filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in

Madras High Court The Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High ...

requesting closure of the copper smelting plant of

Sterlite Industries Sterlite Copper is a subsidiary of Sterlite industries, a company owned by Vedanta Limited. History It was originally incorporated as Rainbow Investments in 1975, the name of the company was changed to Sterlite Cables in 1976. It was later r ...

Tuticorin Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital and h ...

which did not follow the waste management procedures correctly and leading to the closure of the plant. Vaiko often goes on foot marches along with his party cadres to attract attention to issues.

Support of LTTE

Vaiko unequivocally supported

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

and other organizations fighting for a separate

Tamil Eelam Tamil Eelam ( ta, தமிழீழம், ''tamiḻ īḻam''; generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம்) is a proposed independent state that many Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora as ...

country in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. He made a trip to

Eelam Eelam ( ta, ஈழம், ''īḻam'', , also spelled Eezham, Ilam or Izham in English) is the native Tamil name for the South Asian island now known as Sri Lanka. The exact etymology and the original meaning of the word are not clearly kn ...

1989 at the height of the LTTE's war with

Sri Lankan Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

when

IPKF Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lankan ...

Indian Peace Keeping Force Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lankan ...

was at

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th mos ...

. Vaiko was the first member of Parliament and chief of a registered political party in the country to be detained under the

Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 The Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) was an Act passed by the Parliament of India in 2002, with the objective of strengthening anti-terrorism operations. The Act was enacted due to several terrorist attacks that were being carried out ...

. He was released after spending 18 months in prison. In 2008,

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is distinct from its Special Branch (though officers of b ...

of Tamil Nadu police arrested Vaiko on charges of sedition. The charges stemmed from speeches Vaiko made at a party meeting on the Sri Lankan issue and the government's raids into LTTE-held areas on 21 October 2008. After 14 days in judicial custody, Vaiko was released. Vaiko has said that India should retract its ban on the LTTE, claiming the ban was a shield to suppress freedom of expression and stifle the voice of the Opposition. On 3 April 2017, Vaiko was jailed in for sedition case filed by DMK in their 2010 regime. The Case filed against Vaiko against the Sovereignty of India. Case filed in 2009 and Vaiko served 56 days in a jail sentence. Vaiko was Sentenced To 1 Year imprisonment And 10,000 Rupees fine. Few days after the judgment Vaiko made an appeal over the judgment. On listening to Vaiko's appeal Judge Adikasevalu ordered the suspension of the sentence imposed on Vaiko.

Philanthropy

In 2005, Vaiko started the Marumalarchi Blood Donors' Club. Vaiko has launched many engagement programmes in rural areas with the participation of villagers. Vaiko has undergone a month-long

padayatra A padayatra ( sa, पादयात्रा, pādayātrā, journey by foot, translit-std=ISO) is a journey undertaken by politicians or prominent citizens to interact more closely with different parts of society, educate about issues concerning ...

in Tamil Nadu for the interlinking of interstate rivers in India. Vaiko during the time he represented Sivakasi Constituency in Loksabha conducted several medical camps for his constituents. He conducted medical camps for physically disabled people in his constituency with the help of Sri Venkateshwara Medical College, Thirupathi. Thousands of people afflicted by polio attended the camp and were given medical aid including corrective surgery at Thirupathi and Whitefield, Bengaluru and post-surgery aid, equipments, etc,. He conducted medical camps for providing the Hepatitis B vaccine for children and provided vaccines for 65000 children in his constituency. Considering the logistics and the planning involved in providing the vaccines in three doses to 65000 children, the program was successful without a hitch. And considering the fact that all these medical camps were organized by Mr. Vaiko without any government help and with his own money, it itself states the philanthropic nature of the leader.

Personal life

He married Renuka Devi on 14 June 1971. Vaiko enjoys writing in his free time and has authored over 50 books (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

) apart from regular essays and columns in newspapers.

Documentary film

Six decades of the political life of Vaiko were filmed by Durai Vaiko and released by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. K. Stalin, K. Veeramani, R. Nallakannu, K. S. Alagiri,

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 Presi ...

, K. Balakrishnan (CPI-M), R Mutharasan, T. Velmurugan, Khadar Mohideen (IUML) and M H Jawahirullah (MMK) in Sathyam Cinemas.

References

, -

External links

Official website of MDMKOfficial biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
{{Sri Lankan Civil War 1944 births Living people Tamil Nadu politicians India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu Indian political party founders Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians Rajya Sabha members from Tamil Nadu People from Virudhunagar district POTA detainees Indian Peace Keeping Force People of the Sri Lankan Civil War