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 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 ...

. The party also has a strong emphasis on

Tamil nationalism Tamil nationalism is the ideology which asserts that the Tamil people constitute a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Tamil people. Tamil nationalism is primarily a secular nationalism, that focus on language and homeland. It expresses ...

. 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 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 ...

and its general secretary is the writer

Ravikumar Ravikumar is Hindu given name, which means "Son of the Sun", combining the Sanskrit words "Ravi" (Sun) and "Kumar" (Son). The name may refer to: *Ravikumar (actor) (born 1953), Indian actor *Ravikumar (writer) (born 1961), Indian writer * Ravikumar ...

History

The Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam was formed in 1982 in

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

. The group was found to seek protection of Dalits from the caste atrocities. Founded by a group of disaffected

Dalits Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...

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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. 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

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 Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or Power (social and p ...

. 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 The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Dravi ...

and to lift up the

socio-economically Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their loc ...

weaker sections of society. The party supported the freedom movement of Tamil people in

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 ...

, 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 The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

in May 2012, Thirumavalavan joined other leaders and raised issue of the Ambedkar cartoon, sparking a controversy in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. 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 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

and PMK.

Tamil Eelam

VCK formed Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization (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, since LTTE is banned in India. VCK is accused of promoting

and supporting the banned group

. 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 ...

affiliated,

Hindutva Hindutva () is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. The term was formulated as a political ideology by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923. It is used by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the ...

group

Hindu Munnani Hindu Munnani is a rightwing Hindu nationalist organisation based in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Hindu Munnani was set up by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) The organisation was founded in 1980 by Ramagopalan, a member of RSS and sinc ...

broke an

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,

Ariyalur Ariyalur () is a town and district headquarters of Ariyalur district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is rich in limestone, surrounded with seven cement factories and two sugar factories. The town is located at a distance of from th ...

block,

Tiruchi 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 ...

. 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

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

s. ''

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

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

were responsible for the violence. In December 2022, VCK protested at the Manuwadi

supremacist 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 ...

towards the architect of the

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

Indian Constitution The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental r ...

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 ...

Electoral performance

Lok Sabha elections

2009 Lok Sabha Election

2014 Lok Sabha Election

2019 Lok Sabha Election

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections

2006 assembly election

2011 assembly election

2016 Assembly election

2021 Assembly election

References

External links

Location of VCK party officeOfficial website of Thirumavalavan
*News coverage
Wikinews IndiaNDTV''The Hindu''
*TASMAC Campaig

*Gandhian Principles Propagand

*TASMAC band
Political parties want TASMAC shop closed
*Against Liquo
Tamil Nadu bandh: Normal life not affected as protesters target only liquor shops , India News - Times of India
*Against TASMA
Tamil Nadu bandh: Normal life not affected as protesters target only liquor shops , India News - Times of India
*Tamil Fishermen issu
PMK, VCK too oppose Marine Fisheries Bill
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/vck-plea-for-release-of-fishermen/article6577776.ec

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/death-sentence-for-fishermen-shocking/article6550723.ec
VCK Calls SL Death Sentence Politically Motivated Decision
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/article160050.ece PMK, VCK too oppose Marine Fisheries Bill] *Tamil Eelam issu
‘Unarmed VCK men to fight for Eelam’
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/politics/vck-not-to-dilute-stand-on-tamil-eelam-364113.html Breaking News, Live Election 2022 Results: Assembly Election 2022, Dates, Photos, Polls and Results] *People welfare Fron

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/puducherry/peoples-welfare-front-promises-statehood-prohibition/article8207868.ec

http://www.ndtv.com/topic/people-welfare-front People Welfare Front: Latest News, Photos, Videos on People Welfare Fron
People Welfare Front: Latest News, Photos, Videos on People Welfare Front
*Tamil Eelam Supporter's organisatio
Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization observes Black Day against Rajapaksa's participation at UNGA session , India News - Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Tamil-Eelam-Supporters-Organisation-(TESO) Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO): Latest News, Videos and Photos of Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) , Times of India
TESO Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation Conference Resolutions August 12 2012 Chennai Tamil Nadu Sri Lanka
http://indianexpress.com/tag/tamil-eelam-supporters-organisation/ Abou

http://www.dnaindia.com/topic/tamil-eelam-supporters-organisation Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisatio

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/VCK-condemns-demolition-of-compound-wall-of-memorial/2013/11/20/article1901526.ec

*Jallikattu Issu

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/jallikattu-allowed-centre-makes-arrangements-for-bull-taming-in-tn/story-fBzddqoyWagokI5X7E36dK.htm

http://guindytalk.com/news-tags/vck-thol-thirumavalavan-news] *LTTE Ban controversie

http://www.oneindia.com/2008/01/27/lift-ban-on-ltte-vck-to-centre-1201422790.htm

http://asianmirror.lk/news/item/6989-pro-ltte-tamil-nadu-parties-urges-india-to-support-npc-resolution] {{United Progressive Alliance 1982 establishments in Tamil Nadu Dalit politics Member parties of the United Progressive Alliance Political parties established in 1982 Political parties in Tamil Nadu Tamil nationalism