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Periyar

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Ramaswami, better known as Periyar
File:Periyar1973.jpg
BornSeptember 17, 1879
Erode, Tamil Nadu, India
DiedDecember 24, 1973
Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation(s)Trader, Social Worker
Spouse(s)Nagammal, Maniammai

Template:Otheruses2

Periyar E. V. Ramaswamy (Template:Lang-ta) (September 17, 1879 – December 24, 1973),also known as Ramaswami, EVR, Thanthai Periyar, or Periyar, was an Indian social reformer, who founded the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam.[1][2][3]

Biography

Ramaswami was from a prominent Naicker caste, a community that descended from the Telugu Nayak rulers of Tamil Nadu. Hence he is sometimes called E. V. Ramaswami Naicker. "Ramaswami" was his given name and "Periyar" means 'respected one' or an 'elder' in Tamil. His mother tongue was Kannada.[4]

Ramasami was an atheist, noted for his antitheistic statement, "He who created god was a fool, he who spreads his name is a scoundrel, and he who worships him is a barbarian," attacking Hinduism in particular. In 1956, he took a procession of Rama's picture garlanded with slippers near Dharmapuri and destroyed the portrait in public, drawing widespread protests from offended Hindus. His most popular writing is The Ramayana: A True Reading (1959), on the Hindu Ramayana epic.[5]

File:P34ee3R.jpg
MGR paying respects to Periyar's mortal remains

His early life

Ramasami was born as the son of a merchant Venkata, who was a devout Hindu of the Vaishnavite school of thought. His mother was Chinna Thayammal alias Muthammal; he had one elder brother named Krishnaswamy and two sisters named Kannamma and Ponnuthoy. He studied for 5 years and 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. He was married to Nagammal a girl of just 13 in 1898. Their first child was a baby girl who died in infancy, after which he had no more children. After being reprimanded by his father, he left his house for Kashi.[6]

Pilgrimage to Kashi

Ramasami went on a pilgrimage to Varanasi to worship in the famous Siva temple Kashi Vishwanath in 1904. He wanted to enter a Free-lunch place but finding that it was meant only for Brahmins he disguised himself as a one. But it was discovered that he was not a Brahmin and he was removed from the place. Later he learnt that the Free-lunch place was built with the donation of a Dravidian merchant.[7] He saw the discrimination against non-Brahmins. He had pictured Kashi as a place where all Hindus would be treated equally. [8]

Timeline of Ramaswami's political struggle and ideology

Ramasami as member of Congress Party 1919 - 1925

Ramasami was a member of the Congress Party from 1919 onwards. He gave up many of his lucrative positions and properties at that time. However, he split from Congress because the Congress refused to support his demand for entry into temples for all castes. This was because the Congress party was dominated by orthodox Brahmins(who were at that time considered to be people of a higher caste in the society) in Tamilnadu at that time.

The fact that Brahmins dominated the Congress Party from 1920's is shown by the fact that when the Congress Party formed the ministry in 1937 the chief minister was Rajagopalachari, the Revenue Minister was Tanguturi Prakasam and the labor minister was V V Giri. All of them were Brahmins and had a long political life marked with major successes. Though it could be argued that most of them were chosen by each of their merits and not merely by their caste.

Vaikom struggle - 1924-1925

The Vaikom Satyagraha was a movement demanding entry into temples and access to temple roads for people of all castes in Vaikom in Kerala which was then part of the princely state of Travancore.

Mahatma Gandhi himself, and leaders of Congress in Travancore, Cochin and Malabar(then part of Madras Presidency) were involved, but the leader were local Ezhavas, Nairs and Pulayas. Since the entire event took place in Kerala most people who suffered were the native sons of the soil, the Scheduled castes and other backward classes in Travancore.

Tamil fans of Ramasami gave him the appellation "Vaikom Veerar", but people in Kerala do not recognize a major role for him in this struggle.

Reference: "The Vaikom Satyagraha", Dr K Kusuman, Professor of History, Kerala University. Published by the Kerala History Association

Self-Respect Movement - 1925-39

Ramasami and his followers campaigned constantly to influence and pressurise the government to take measures to remove social inequality even while other nationalist leaders focussed on the struggle for political independence.

Anti-Hindi Movement - 1937-1940

Hindi imposition in Tamil Nadu started in 1937 when the Congress Government of the Madras Presidency under (C Rajagopalachari) made Hindi a compulsory subject in schools. Tamils opposed Hindi imposition immediately and the Justice Party under Sir A. D. Panneerselvam and Ramasami organized anti-Hindi imposition protests in 1938 and were arrested and jailed by the Rajagopalachari government. More than 1200 people, including women and children, were imprisoned in 1938, of which two, Thalamuthu and Natarasan, lost their lives. In 1939 the Rajagopalachari government quit and it was withdrawn in 1940 by the British governor.

Justice Party - 1939-1944

Before World War II, the Justice Party ruled Madras Province for a long period from 1920 to 1937 with many leaders List of Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu. As Gandhi revitalized the Congress Party with the common man message, People voted Congress Party into power from 1937 to 1967. As the Justice Party lost its power and began looking for someone popular with the masses, Ramasami was an obvious choice. And the popular slogan social was "social justice",as a euphemism for anti-Brahmin rhetoric. He targeted Rajagopalachari, the Congress leader and a Brahmin. However, largely due to the populaity of Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress party remained in power till 1967.

Dravidar Kazhagam 1944 - till death

Ramaswami changed the name of the Justice Party to Dravidar Kazhagam (Party of the Dravidians). He pitched himself against the so-called "Aryans", who included Brahmins among other sects. He avoided parliamentary democracy and started his campaigns on his own. Some of his followers split with him after him due to growing differences of opinion within the party and started the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, popularly known as the DMK. The DMK was first led by C.N. Annadurai and after him by M. Karunanidhi.[9]

Ramasami and his dramatic anti-Brahman protests put new life into the party. The Dravidian Federation, and launched a Tamil "cultural offensive," including theatrical productions of a "reinterpreted" Ramayana-a version transposing hero and villain, in which the Sri Lankan demon king Ravana becomes a heroic "Dravidian of 'excellent character,' and the Aryan prince Rama a conniving, "despicable character" . This and later political uses of drama capitalized on the strong literary focus among Tamils. Despite such attempts at mass propaganda, however, the party's membership continued to be drawn from the elite.[10]

Later, the Justice Party became secessionist in nature, campaigning for an independent Dravidshan state. Once the regional autonomy was achieved through the formation of Madras (now Tamil Nadu) State and non-Brahman claims were translated into an extensive policy of reservations, Brahmans were incorporated as members into the Tamil society. Brahmans are accommodated as ideologues and legitimizers of the regional legacy of the Dravidian movement.[11]

Split of DMK from Dravidar Kazhagam - 1949

The DMK was considered to be split from Dravidar kazhagam, by C. N. Annadurai. The main reason for this was that he did not want to be involved in the Government and wanted to do only public service. The second reason was he married Maniammai a woman who was 40 years younger than him.

The more practical and political C. N. Annadurai and his followers chose this opportunity to break away and get involved in the new democratic system. Despite the fact that Ramasami chose not to support DMK during any election, the DMK came to power on its own following the economic turmoils of late 1960s and the promise of cheap rice which was the staple food of Tamil Nadu.

Ramasami and Kula Kalvi Thittam/Hereditary Education Policy - 1952-1954

Rajagopalachari introduced a new education policy based on family vocation which its opponents dubbed Kula Kalvi Thittam (Hereditary Education Policy). As per this policy schools will work in the morning and students had to compulsorily learn the family vocation in the afternoon. A carpenter's son would learn carpentry, a priest's son chanting hymns and a barber's son hair cutting and shaving after school in the afternoon.[12] Ramasami felt that the scheme was a clever device against Dalits and Other Backward Classes as their first generation was getting educated only then.[13] Ramasami demanded its withdrawal and launched protests against the Kula Kalvi Thittam (Hereditary Education Policy) which he felt was caste-based and was aimed at maintaining caste hegemony. Rajagopalachari quit in 1954 and Kamaraj scrapped it after becoming chief minister.[14][15]

Ramasami supports Kamarajar of Congress Party - 1954-1963

Ramasami wrote two articles in his magazine Viduthalai (Freedom) in 1954 supporting Kamarasar and Congress Party which he had vehemently opposed. He did not support the DMK party which was formed by C. N. Annadurai his protege.

These articles appeared under the headline 'Kamarasar Atharipu Ean?,' (Why supporting Kamarasar?) in Viduthalai on May 15, 1954 and June 1, 1954.

The reason for his support seems to be the fact that Kamarasar was a bachelor without issues and therefore has no ulterior selfish motives. Further he was a pure Tamilian and not of Brahminical descent. Kamarasar maintained a balanced view of all castes and was palatable to all walks of people.

Ramasami consistently supported Kamarasar for all the years Kamarajar lead the Congress Party.

The final years - 1963-1973

Both Congress Party in Tamilnadu and DMK formed an alliance to contest the 1973 election against the AIADMK which they won. The party Dravidar Kazhagam became a fringe party as its ideals were considered too extreme by the majority of the people of Tamilnadu.[1]

The leader of AIADMK MG Ramachandran was openly pro-Hindu but not pro-brahmin and visited many temples even though he was once a major part of the Dravidar Kazhagam.

The leader of DMK Karunanidhi the current chief minister of Tamilnadu, over the years reduced his strong opposition to Hinduism and focused more on development issues.

Ramasami's ideas on modern Tamil alphabet

Ramasami instituted Tamil alphabet reforms and his reasons are as follows:[16]

In writings and publications of 70 or 80 years ago, the vowel 'ee' (i:), indicated today as ' ¼ ', was a cursive and looped representation of the short form, ' ¬ ' (i). In stone inscriptions of 400 or 500 years ago, many Tamil letters are found in other shapes. The older and the more divine a language and its letters are said to be, they, in truth, need reform.

Just as some compound characters have separate signs to indicate their length as in ' æè ' , ' îæ ' (ka: , ke:), why should not other compound characters like ' æ¨ ' , ' æ© ' , ' Æ ' , ' Ô ' (ki, ki:,ku, ku:) (indicated integrally as of now), also have separate signs? This indeed requires consideration.

Changing the shape of letters, creating new symbols and adding new letters and similarly, dropping those that are redundant, are quite essential.The glory and excellence of a language and its script depend on how easily they can be understood or learnt and on nothing else.

Ramasami and the 'Upper Castes'

The self-respect movement was accompanied by growing anger towards the perceived historical oppression inflicted upon 'true' Dravidians by upper castes.

Ramasami and 'Tamil Language'

Though Ramasami was Born and brought up in Tamil Nadu (ERODE), his mother tongue is Telugu. This is evident from that; Ramasami was from a prominent Naicker caste, a community that descended from the Telugu Nayak rulers of Tamil Nadu

People from Tamil Nadu believing, he is ardent promoter, protector of Tamil Language and its causes.

We can infer his affinity to Tamil Language from his own statement. 'For more than 40 years, I have been describing Tamil as a barbarous language (Kattumirandi Mozhi) used only by barbarians. When Brahmins and the Brahmin-dominated government wanted to make Hindi a State language, I started, to a very limited extent, advocating the promotion of Tamil language only to oppose the imposition of Hindi language. The only language that ought to replace Tamil is English. What is not there in English which can be found in Tamil Language?'

For reference Read “E V Ramasamy Naickarin Marupakkam” written by M.Venkatesan


Ramasami and anti-Brahmanism

Ramasami's self-respect movement espoused rationalism and atheism, and although Ramasami had Brahmin colleagues, the movement had currents of anti-Brahminism.[17] Tamil Brahmins (Iyers and Iyengars) were frequently held responsible by his followers for direct or indirect oppression of lower-caste people; this, it has been argued, contributed to several clashes and a gradual migration of the upper castes.[18]

Later, in regards to a DK member's attempt to assassinate Rajagopalachari, he "expressed his abhorrence of violence as a means of settling political differences".[19] The legacy of the anti-Brahmanism of the self-respect movement was taken over by the later Dravidan parties. Growing anti-Brahmanism in Chennai provided a rationale for polarization of the lower castes in the DMK movement.[20] Eventually, the virulent anti-Brahmanism subsided somewhat with the replacement of the DMK party by the AIADMK.[21]

Ramasami and the narrative of invasion

Main articles: Aryan Invasion Theory (history and controversies) and Self-respect movement

Based on invasionist scenarios of Bronze Age Indo-Aryan migration to India, in colonial India were re-worked in propagandistic and pseudohistorical literature to create divisions on the basis of perceptions that contrasted the so-called upper-caste Aryans and lower-caste Dravidians, creating an "internalized past" through an act of "semioticization the Aryan migration".[22] Periyar and his followers exploited this body of literature to advance the notion of a "Pure Dravidian Race", superior in every way to the "despicable" Aryan Brahmins, philosophies that historian Michael Bergunder compares to the ideas of Herrenvolk in Nazi Germany[22]

A major aspect of this narrative was the claim that the "Aryan" Brahmins started the Indian Caste System immediately following the "Aryan Invasion" as a tool to exploit and oppress the "Dravidians", a claim that was used by his followers to justify their anti-Brahminism.[22] However, it was only the Self-Respect Movement started by him that provided a popular catalyst for a Tamil nationalism that ostensibly had a "secular" foundation. In the 1930s and ’40s there thus developed a Dravidian mass movement, which had among its declared goals the abolition of "Brahmanical oppression" through the caste system and religion and the revival of Dravidian culture and society.The history of a flourishing Dravidian civilization (centuries prior to actual advanced Tamil civilizations such as the Chola Empire), unjustly destroyed by the Aryan Brahmins, played a significant role in the Dravidian propaganda of this period. This act of turning the invasionist scenario of the Aryan Migration became a leitmotiv of the argument that formed part of Periyar's anti-Brahmanism.[22] A reflection of this effort was in Ramasami's declaration:

We do not need to explain how the Aryans entered and settled in the Dravidian country (tira¯vit»a na¯» t»u), and subjugated and oppressed the Dravidians. Nor do we need to explain how before the Aryans entered the Dravidian country, the Dravidian country had a civilization and arts of the highest rank …

[22]

Tamil poets such as Bharati Dasan, who became the mouthpiece of the Periyarites, and wrote poems that were explicitly anti-Brahmin in content:

In order through false promises, through strife, // to rule fraudulently, they fraudulently, they (Brahmins) came at»i.

[22]

Ramasami's influence

Influence of Ramasami's philosophies are evident in the political decisions and social impact of Tamilnadu. The political decision related to reservation, Hindi dominance agitation, woman liberation are attributed to his impact. Atheism in Tamilnadu is given a great relevance to Periyar. Cine Actors Vivek, MR. Radha, Sathyaraj being believers of Ramasami's principle exhibited their anti-superstition propaganda onscreen.

A Tamil movie "Periyar" was taken depicting his biographical life, the lead role played by Sathyaraj


References

  1. ^ Thomas Pantham, Vrajendra Raj Mehta, Vrajendra Raj Mehta, (2006). Political Ideas in Modern India: thematic explorations. Sage Publications. ISBN 0761934200.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ N.D. Arora/S.S. Awasthy. Political Theory and Political Thought. ISBN 8124111642.
  3. ^ Shankar Raghuraman, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta (2004). A Time of Coalitions: Divided We Stand. Sage Publications. ISBN 0761932372.
  4. ^ "Periyar E.V. Ramasami". buddhiwadi.org.
  5. ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006E12N4/
  6. ^ http://www.periyar.org/html/ap_bios_eng1.asp
  7. ^ http://www.periyar.org/html/ap_bios_eng1.asp
  8. ^ http://snphilosophers2005.tripod.com/louis.pdf
  9. ^ http://www.gallup.unm.edu/~smarandache/Periyar.pdf
  10. ^ Sara Dickey,"The politics of adulation in South India", Journal of Asian Studies Vol 52 No 2 (1993) pages 340-372
  11. ^ http://www.democracy-asia.org/Suhas_Palshikar_Caste_&_Region.pdf
  12. ^ http://sify.com/news/politics/fullstory.php?id=13569138
  13. ^ http://www.tamilnation.org/hundredtamils/periyar.htm
  14. ^ http://www.gallup.unm.edu/~smarandache/Periyar.pdf
  15. ^ http://www.periyar.org/html/dk_movement_eng.asp
  16. ^ http://www.uni-giessen.de/~gk1415/revolutionary.htm#9
  17. ^ Gail Omvedt (2006), Dalit Visions: The Anti-caste Movement and the Construction on an Indian Identity, Orient Longman, ISBN 8125028951
  18. ^ Lloyd I. Rudolph Urban Life and Populist Radicalism: Dravidian Politics in Madras The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 20, No. 3 (May, 1961), pp. 283-297
  19. ^ Lloyd I. Rudolph and Suzanne Hoeber Rudolph, The Modernity of Tradition: political development in India P78,University of Chicago Press 1969, ISBN 0226731375
  20. ^ Singh, Yogendra,Modernization of Indian Tradition: (A Systemic Study of Social Change),Oriental Press 1974 page 167
  21. ^ C. J. Fuller,The Renewal of the Priesthood: Modernity and Traditionalism in a South Indian Temple P117, Princeton University Press 2003 ISBN 0691116571
  22. ^ a b c d e f Bergunder M, Contested Past: Anti-Brahmanical and Hindu nationalist reconstructions of Indian prehistory, Historiographia Linguistica, Volume 31, Number 1, 2004, pp. 59-104(46)

Bibliography

  • Diehl, Anita. E. V. Ramaswami - Periyar: A study of the influence of a personality in contemporary South India. ISBN 91-24-27645-6.
  • Richman, Paula. "E.V. Ramasami's Reading of the Ramayana" in Paula Richman, ed., Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia.
  • M.Venkatesan. “E V Ramasamy Naickarin Marupakkam”
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