Dravidar Kazhagam
Encyclopedia
Dravidar Kazhagam or Dravida Kazhagam (Dravidian Organization) was the first fully Dravidian party in India
. It was a radical party formed by E. V. Ramaswamy, also called Thanthai Periyar (The Noble Father) of erstwhile Madras Presidency. Its original goals were to eradicate the ills of the existing caste system including untouchability
and on a grander scale to obtain a "Dravida Nadu" or Dravidian nation mainly from the Madras Presidency
. The founders were motivated by theories that the Brahmin
s (who migrated from the north
) and Aryan
s were wreaking havoc on the local Dravidian populace. The DK thus became the first fully Dravidian party and would in turn give birth to many other Dravidian parties like the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(DMK), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(AIADMK),MDMK,DMDK,KMK,PMK etc., over the course of time. It has become a reality that any new political formation should have " Dravidian" somewhere in the name of the party, otherwise tamils will reject it. Also EVR Periyar has become the Father of all political parties in Tamil Nadu.
, founded by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
. Periyar formed the Self Respect Movement in 1925, breaking in the process from the Indian National Congress
party of which he had been a member until then. The Self Respect Movement represented "non-Brahmins" . The non-Brahmin community was defined to include all South Indians other than Brahmin
s. The South Indian Liberal Federation (also called the Justice Party) was an elite organization, formed in 1916, which also claimed to promote non-Brahmin interests. The Self Respect Movement and the Justice Party were merged in 1938 under Periyar's leadership. The name of this party was changed to the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) in 1944, at the same time that the party was more formally organized.
The party at its inception retained the flag of the South Indian Liberal Federation which had a picture of a traditional type of balance instrument, called tarasu in Tamil
, signifying the idea of equality
. The Dravidar Kazhagam was founded not only for equality but for 'proportionate rights' according to population. its central theme was to remove the degraded status imposed on Dravidians and to lead to a bright future. To denote this, the Dravidar Kazhagam adopted a black flag with a red circle inside it, the black signifying their degradation - social and economic - and the red denoting the movement for uplift.
The DK opposed Brahminical social, political and ritual dominance, and aimed to form a separate country of Dravida Nadu
, to include either all of South India
or the predominantly Tamil-speaking regions. Its sharp opposition to religion, especially Brahminical Hinduism, was widely popular. Dravidian ideology is based on staunch anti-Brahminism, and is anti-Sanskrit and anti-North India
. However, it never became a full-fledged political party by choice; instead, it prefers to be a cultural and social reformist movement and a pressure group leaving active politics to its progeny, DMK and AIADMK.
Gods and Goddesses, seeking to educate people on their opposition to the supernatural
as well as women's liberation
. Even though there some aberrations, Periyar's protests were largely symbolic and did not call for the destruction of private property or physically harm anyone, including the Brahmins. The workers of this party were often quite visible as they wore black shirts and white dhoti
s. The party was very much opposed to Hindi
as well as all Northern traditions seen as maligning the south and its unique culture. It continues to remove astrology
and other superstitions viz. numerology
, palmistry, etc.
s into the sanctum sanctorum
and asking Brahmin
priests to worship in Tamil instead of Sanskrit
, since Tamil was propagated to be inferior in comparison to Sanskrit, a language that was restricted only to the Brahmin community. During Indian independence
in 1947, the party has not accepted as Periyar viewed Independence as the transfer of power from British
to the Brahmin
-Bania
combine who occupied all important positions. With a firm belief that caste-based reservations are the only way to empower the under-represented, they supported reservations in education and employment right from 1919. Periyar was instrumental in introducing reservation in Tamil Nadu from 1921 even before independence.
and his followers. However, Periyar argued that politics will force ideology to the background and Dravidar Kazhagam remained a social organization. Moreover, many felt that a greater Dravida Nadu was impossible and even Periyar resigned to the fact that even an independent Tamil Nadu
would be a remarkable achievement. With a straining relationship in the organization, Periyar, supreme leader of the party, married Maniammai in her thirties, as an arrangement of the future of the party. Furthermore, he began to give more power and control to her and is even reported to have said that she would be his successor. This enraged some members of the party who broke up and formed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
, later winning the elections in Tamil Nadu. The party was later headed by Veeramani
after the demise of Maniammai.
stranglehold. Though it failed to achieve its grandiose idea of an independent Dravidian nation, it fostered a spirit of unity amongst the Dravidians, especially in Tamilians
who continue to oppose Hindi
to this day. Its influence is especially felt in Tamil Nadu where since 1967, only the Dravidian parties
have won the assembly elections. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaVmEiQ1jTU
While it can be said that Dravidar Kazhagam was instrumental in lessening the importance of Brahmins on Tamil society especially in politics and administration, ultimately the ideas of equality and equal opportunity adopted by the Indian Constitution contributed a little to make the entire educated and political classes
which wield influence. Dravidar Kazhagam was one force which ploughed upside down the traditional Hindu and Indian attitudes for the betterment of the underprivileged.
Indira Gandhi
in 1980, and which had been conveniently shelved by the Congress Government, the Dravidar Kazhagam was the first organization to ask why the government was sleeping over it. Thus, the it organized an agitation
on October 3, 1983 with the cooperation of like-minded Parties asking why the recommendations of the Mandal Commission were not being implemented. The General Secretary
of the Dravidar Kazhagam, K. Veeramani
and the representatives of other parties met the President of India
and urged the need for carrying out the recommendations of the Commission.
Conferences were at Patna
, Nagpur
, and at Allahabad
going into the following year in favor of the Mandal Commission Report and in all those Conferences the General Secrety K. Veeramani
represented the Dravidar Kazhagam and said that in fairness to the Backward classes the recommendations of the Commission should be totally accepted and the necessary laws for their implementation should be enacted. Two days later K. Veeramani and other supporters of the Report staged a "dharma" in front of the Prime Minister's residence in order to draw her attention to the urgency of the problem; they were all arrested immediately. Indira Gandhi did not yield to pressures on this question. The Congress government under Rajiv Gandhi continued the same policy.
When V.P. Singh assumed office as Prime Minister of India, the Parliament in August 1990 accepted the Mandal Commission Report, and planned to implement it. Immediately the forward classes in some states rose against it. Reacting against this unfeeling attitude of the forward class people, the Dravidar Kazhagam and the DMK have been urging the Prime Minister to stand up to his commitment. On October 22, 1990 with staunch support of the Chief Minister
Kalaignar Karunanidhi, these two Parties organized a state wide "bandh" in Tamil Nadu to show how the entire state stands solidly in support of the Mandal Commission Report. The Prime Minister is a man of principles and he has been repeatedly saying that he is committed to implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission. In the meantime, some of the forward class people have moved the Supreme Court and that court has passed Stay Orders against the implementation of the Report. Though the hands of the Government were tied by this stay order, the Kazhagam has continued to work for the implementation of the Report.
In order to induce the government of India to take some action at the political level the Dravidar Kazhagam took a series of steps. On June 18, 1983, it convened an All-Party Conference in Madras and discussed the ways to solve the problem. The consensus was that the Government of India should have a dialogue with the Government of Sri Lanka to stop the genocide and find means of allowing the Tamil population to live in peace in that country. Two weeks later, on July 2, the Dravidar Kazhagam leaders address a mammoth public meeting at Anna Nagar, Madras to inform the public how their brothers and sisters were being massacred in Sri Lanka.
On July 23, 1983, the General Secretary sent messages to all the Parliament members representing Tamil Nadu
asking them to meet Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and urge her to everything possible to save the innocent Tamils. Finding that the Government of India was not taking immediate steps to solve the problem, the Dravidar Kazhagam decided to observe the August 15, 1983 as a day of mourning. The Party members were instructed to show their resentment against the Central Government's lukewarm attitude, by wearing black badges on their arms, flying black flags over their houses and hoisting black flags in public places. Further, the members of the State Legislative Party and the Parliament were requested through personal letters not to participate in any of the functions connected with the Independence Day.
By this time, refugees from Sri Lanka were pouring into Tamil Nadu in large numbers. On August 16, 1983 the General Secretary of the Dravidar Kazhagamthe announced that Periyar Rationalist Propaganda Institution would offer educational facilities to the children of Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka. When the President of Sri Lanka Jayawardene
visited New Delhi
to enter into a pact with Prime Minister of India, the Dravidar Kazhagam held a black flag demonstration to express its indignation against his inhuman attitude to Tamils. As a result of the meeting which Jayawardene had with the officials of the Indian Government, India agreed to send a unit of the Indian Army
to Sri Lanka for keeping peace in the island; it was called Indian Peace Keeping Force
(IPKF). The Dravidar Kazhagam arranged a number of meetings and expressed condemnation of this agreement signed on July 29, 1987 because it felt that the IPKF would be used to curb the activities of the Tamil rebels who wanted a separate Province Eelam
for the Tamils settled in Sri Lanka.
On Independence Day August 15, 1984, the Dravidar Kazhagam observed mourning and its general secretary and members hoisted black flags in many places of Tamil Nadu. K. Veeramani
and five thousand members of the party who were involved in this were arrested. On December 3, 1984, a unit of the Ceylonese Marine Force chased and shot down some Indian fishermen who were fishing off the coast of Rameswaram. When the General Secretary of the Dravidar Kazhagam and the Head of the Madurai Mutt expressed before the Madurai Collector's office their protest against the inaction of the Indian Government, they were arrested. The Dravidar Kazhagam gave help to the families of the fishermen who had been killed. In order to plan and organize continued support for the Tamil Eelam
freedom fighters, Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization (TESO) was formed in Madras on May 13, 185 with Dr. Kalaignar Karunanidhi as President and K. Veeramani and Madurai Nedumaran as members.
When the Central Government of India ordered Tamil Eelam leadership to be sent out of Madras, thousands of Tamilians
marched along the streets of New Delhi protesting against the provocative order. Five days later TESO successfully prevented movements of trains throughout Tamil Nadu as a protest against the extradition of the Eelam leadership. When the situation on the borders between India and Sri Lanka were tense, Nedumaran heroically sailed to Sri Lanka, videotaped the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka and on his return, went straight to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
to apprise him of the situation in Sri Lanka. Rajiv Gandhi refused to meet him and thus showed his indifference to the sufferings of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
When the Government of India sent an Indian Battalion] to Sri Lanka as IPKF, the Dravidar Kazhagam protested against it. (Periyar Father of Tamil 55) The worst fears of the Dravidar Kazhagam regarding the IPKF proved true within a week or two of its functioning in Sri Lanka. The battalion had to take orders from the Sri Lanka Government and naturally that Government employed the IPKF against the guerrilla fighters of Eelam. Very soon, Indian papers reported that the Indian Government was spending at the rate of rupees one crore
per day for maintaining the IPKF in Sri Lanka. The general public then realized that making the Indo-Lanka pat was a historic folly on the part of the Indian Government awoke to the realities but stood on false prestige and did not wish to withdraw the IPKF. But ironically, the Government of Sri Lanka insisted on the withdrawal of Indian troops in May 1989 probably because this force tried to prevent the Sri Lanka army from hunting down not only the freedom fighters but the innocent Tamil civilians.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It was a radical party formed by E. V. Ramaswamy, also called Thanthai Periyar (The Noble Father) of erstwhile Madras Presidency. Its original goals were to eradicate the ills of the existing caste system including untouchability
Untouchability
Untouchability is the social practice of ostracizing a minority group by segregating them from the mainstream by social custom or legal mandate. The excluded group could be one that did not accept the norms of the excluding group and historically included foreigners, nomadic tribes, law-breakers...
and on a grander scale to obtain a "Dravida Nadu" or Dravidian nation mainly from the Madras Presidency
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...
. The founders were motivated by theories that the Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
s (who migrated from the north
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
) and Aryan
Aryan
Aryan is an English language loanword derived from Sanskrit ārya and denoting variously*In scholarly usage:**Indo-Iranian languages *in dated usage:**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers...
s were wreaking havoc on the local Dravidian populace. The DK thus became the first fully Dravidian party and would in turn give birth to many other Dravidian parties like the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
(DMK), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. The party was founded by M. G. Ramachandran and is now headed by J. Jayalalithaa. The party headquarters is in Royapettah, Chennai, and was gifted to the party in 1986 by its...
(AIADMK),MDMK,DMDK,KMK,PMK etc., over the course of time. It has become a reality that any new political formation should have " Dravidian" somewhere in the name of the party, otherwise tamils will reject it. Also EVR Periyar has become the Father of all political parties in Tamil Nadu.
Origins
The roots of the Dravidar Kazhagam lie in the Self Respect MovementSelf-Respect Movement
The Self-Respect Movement was founded in 1925 by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy in Tamil Nadu, India. The movement has the aim of achieving a society where backward castes have equal human rights, and encouraging backward castes to have self-respect in the context of a caste based society that...
, founded by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
Erode Venkata Ramasamy , affectionately called by his followers as Periyar , Thanthai Periyar or E. V...
. Periyar formed the Self Respect Movement in 1925, breaking in the process from the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
party of which he had been a member until then. The Self Respect Movement represented "non-Brahmins" . The non-Brahmin community was defined to include all South Indians other than Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
s. The South Indian Liberal Federation (also called the Justice Party) was an elite organization, formed in 1916, which also claimed to promote non-Brahmin interests. The Self Respect Movement and the Justice Party were merged in 1938 under Periyar's leadership. The name of this party was changed to the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) in 1944, at the same time that the party was more formally organized.
The party at its inception retained the flag of the South Indian Liberal Federation which had a picture of a traditional type of balance instrument, called tarasu in Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
, signifying the idea of equality
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
. The Dravidar Kazhagam was founded not only for equality but for 'proportionate rights' according to population. its central theme was to remove the degraded status imposed on Dravidians and to lead to a bright future. To denote this, the Dravidar Kazhagam adopted a black flag with a red circle inside it, the black signifying their degradation - social and economic - and the red denoting the movement for uplift.
The DK opposed Brahminical social, political and ritual dominance, and aimed to form a separate country of Dravida Nadu
Dravidistan
Dravida Nadu , also known as Dravidistan or Dravidasthan, was the name of a proposed sovereign state for all speakers of Dravidian languages in South Asia. The major political parties backing the demand were the Justice Party led by E. V. Ramasamy and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by C. N...
, to include either all of South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
or the predominantly Tamil-speaking regions. Its sharp opposition to religion, especially Brahminical Hinduism, was widely popular. Dravidian ideology is based on staunch anti-Brahminism, and is anti-Sanskrit and anti-North India
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
. However, it never became a full-fledged political party by choice; instead, it prefers to be a cultural and social reformist movement and a pressure group leaving active politics to its progeny, DMK and AIADMK.
Work
The work of the Dravidar Kazhagam largely centered around annihilation of caste, removing untouchability, opposing Brahminism and denouncing HinduHinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
Gods and Goddesses, seeking to educate people on their opposition to the supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
as well as women's liberation
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
. Even though there some aberrations, Periyar's protests were largely symbolic and did not call for the destruction of private property or physically harm anyone, including the Brahmins. The workers of this party were often quite visible as they wore black shirts and white dhoti
Dhoti
The dhoti or pancha is the traditional men's garment in the in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. A similar garment is worn in some rural areas of Punjab province in Pakistan, but the use is fast declining...
s. The party was very much opposed to Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
as well as all Northern traditions seen as maligning the south and its unique culture. It continues to remove astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
and other superstitions viz. numerology
Numerology
Numerology is any study of the purported mystical relationship between a count or measurement and life. It has many systems and traditions and beliefs...
, palmistry, etc.
Controversies
The Dravidar Kazhagam was well known for its hard line approach to fight for the Dravidian rights and was often involved in mass attempts to change the system outright. One such incident involved bringing in Adi DravidaAdi Dravida
Adi Dravidar is term used by the state of Tamil Nadu in India to denote Dalits. It means Original natives or indigenous people of Dravida land . The term was coined by Tamil social activist Periyar Ramasami who worked against casteism and division among the people based on castes...
s into the sanctum sanctorum
Sanctum sanctorum
The Latin phrase sanctum sanctorum is a Latin translation of the biblical term: "Holy of Holies" which generally refers in Latin texts to the Holiest place of the Tabernacle of Ancient Israel and later the Temples in Jerusalem, but also has some derivative use in application to imitations of the...
and asking Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
priests to worship in Tamil instead of Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, since Tamil was propagated to be inferior in comparison to Sanskrit, a language that was restricted only to the Brahmin community. During Indian independence
Independence Day (India)
The Independence Day of India is celebrated on the fifteenth of August to commemorate its independence from British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation in 1947. The day is a national holiday in India. All over the country, flag-hoisting ceremonies are conducted by the local administration in...
in 1947, the party has not accepted as Periyar viewed Independence as the transfer of power from British
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
to the Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
-Bania
Bania
Bania may refer to:* Bania or Vanika, a trader or merchant belonging to the Indian business class** Punjabi Banias* Bănia, a commune in Caraş-Severin County, Romania* Bănia River, a tributary of the Nera River in Romania...
combine who occupied all important positions. With a firm belief that caste-based reservations are the only way to empower the under-represented, they supported reservations in education and employment right from 1919. Periyar was instrumental in introducing reservation in Tamil Nadu from 1921 even before independence.
The split
As the party gained prominence, many in the party wanted to contest in the elections and implement their ideology through democratic means. Among these were AnnaduraiAnnadurai
Annadurai can refer to:* C. N. Annadurai, an Indian politician* Mylswamy Annadurai, an Indian scientist...
and his followers. However, Periyar argued that politics will force ideology to the background and Dravidar Kazhagam remained a social organization. Moreover, many felt that a greater Dravida Nadu was impossible and even Periyar resigned to the fact that even an independent Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
would be a remarkable achievement. With a straining relationship in the organization, Periyar, supreme leader of the party, married Maniammai in her thirties, as an arrangement of the future of the party. Furthermore, he began to give more power and control to her and is even reported to have said that she would be his successor. This enraged some members of the party who broke up and formed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
, later winning the elections in Tamil Nadu. The party was later headed by Veeramani
Veeramani
The name Veeramani can be referred to:* K.Veeramani - President of the Dravidar Kazhagam, an Indian organization centered in Tamil Nadu.* Veeramanidasan - South Indian Hindu devotional singer in Tamil, Telugu and Kanada languages...
after the demise of Maniammai.
Legacy
The organization laid the foundation for further Dravidian involvement into politics. It singularly enthused a new Dravidian spirit that later on led to the formation of many parties in the southern states that would eventually challenge the Indian National CongressIndian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
stranglehold. Though it failed to achieve its grandiose idea of an independent Dravidian nation, it fostered a spirit of unity amongst the Dravidians, especially in Tamilians
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
who continue to oppose Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
to this day. Its influence is especially felt in Tamil Nadu where since 1967, only the Dravidian parties
Dravidian parties
Dravidian parties include an array of regional political parties in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, which trace their origins and ideologies either directly or indirectly to the Dravidian movement of Periyar E. V...
have won the assembly elections. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaVmEiQ1jTU
While it can be said that Dravidar Kazhagam was instrumental in lessening the importance of Brahmins on Tamil society especially in politics and administration, ultimately the ideas of equality and equal opportunity adopted by the Indian Constitution contributed a little to make the entire educated and political classes
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
which wield influence. Dravidar Kazhagam was one force which ploughed upside down the traditional Hindu and Indian attitudes for the betterment of the underprivileged.
Mandal Commission Report
In connection with the implementation of the Mandal Commission Report which had been submitted to the Prime Minister of IndiaPrime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
in 1980, and which had been conveniently shelved by the Congress Government, the Dravidar Kazhagam was the first organization to ask why the government was sleeping over it. Thus, the it organized an agitation
Agitator
An agitator is a person who actively supports some ideology or movement with speeches and especially actions. The Agitators were a political movement as well as elected representatives of soldiers, including the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell, during the English Civil War. They were also known...
on October 3, 1983 with the cooperation of like-minded Parties asking why the recommendations of the Mandal Commission were not being implemented. The General Secretary
General Secretary
The office of general secretary is staffed by the chief officer of:*The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace, a government agency for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...
of the Dravidar Kazhagam, K. Veeramani
K. Veeramani
Krishnasamy Veeramani was born on December 2, 1933 in Cuddalore, Cuddalore District, Tamilnadu.He is referred as Aasiriyar K.Veeramani. He is the President of the Dravidar Kazhagam, an Indian organization centered in Tamil Nadu, opposed to the caste system and dedicated to the welfare of...
and the representatives of other parties met the President of India
President of India
The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. President of India is also the formal head of all the three branches of Indian Democracy - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary...
and urged the need for carrying out the recommendations of the Commission.
Conferences were at Patna
Patna
Paṭnā , is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in Eastern India . Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world...
, Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
, and at Allahabad
Allahabad
Allahabad , or Settled by God in Persian, is a major city of India and is one of the main holy cities of Hinduism. It was renamed by the Mughals from the ancient name of Prayaga , and is by some accounts the second-oldest city in India. It is located in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,...
going into the following year in favor of the Mandal Commission Report and in all those Conferences the General Secrety K. Veeramani
K. Veeramani
Krishnasamy Veeramani was born on December 2, 1933 in Cuddalore, Cuddalore District, Tamilnadu.He is referred as Aasiriyar K.Veeramani. He is the President of the Dravidar Kazhagam, an Indian organization centered in Tamil Nadu, opposed to the caste system and dedicated to the welfare of...
represented the Dravidar Kazhagam and said that in fairness to the Backward classes the recommendations of the Commission should be totally accepted and the necessary laws for their implementation should be enacted. Two days later K. Veeramani and other supporters of the Report staged a "dharma" in front of the Prime Minister's residence in order to draw her attention to the urgency of the problem; they were all arrested immediately. Indira Gandhi did not yield to pressures on this question. The Congress government under Rajiv Gandhi continued the same policy.
When V.P. Singh assumed office as Prime Minister of India, the Parliament in August 1990 accepted the Mandal Commission Report, and planned to implement it. Immediately the forward classes in some states rose against it. Reacting against this unfeeling attitude of the forward class people, the Dravidar Kazhagam and the DMK have been urging the Prime Minister to stand up to his commitment. On October 22, 1990 with staunch support of the Chief Minister
Chief Minister
A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...
Kalaignar Karunanidhi, these two Parties organized a state wide "bandh" in Tamil Nadu to show how the entire state stands solidly in support of the Mandal Commission Report. The Prime Minister is a man of principles and he has been repeatedly saying that he is committed to implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission. In the meantime, some of the forward class people have moved the Supreme Court and that court has passed Stay Orders against the implementation of the Report. Though the hands of the Government were tied by this stay order, the Kazhagam has continued to work for the implementation of the Report.
Tamil Eelam problem
Another burning question which has been engaging the Dravidar Kazhagam actively since 1983 is that of the helpless Tamil population in Sri Lanka. Though Tamilians had been attacked off and on by the Sinhalese for a number of years, from 1983 the plight of the Tamils became miserable because the Sri Lanka government seemed to convince at the atrocities committed against the Tamils. Some Tamil groups equipped themselves and tried to meet the challenge of the Sinhalese militants. As a result of the continued skirmishes, hundreds of Tamil civilians, including women and children, were killed.In order to induce the government of India to take some action at the political level the Dravidar Kazhagam took a series of steps. On June 18, 1983, it convened an All-Party Conference in Madras and discussed the ways to solve the problem. The consensus was that the Government of India should have a dialogue with the Government of Sri Lanka to stop the genocide and find means of allowing the Tamil population to live in peace in that country. Two weeks later, on July 2, the Dravidar Kazhagam leaders address a mammoth public meeting at Anna Nagar, Madras to inform the public how their brothers and sisters were being massacred in Sri Lanka.
On July 23, 1983, the General Secretary sent messages to all the Parliament members representing Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
asking them to meet Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and urge her to everything possible to save the innocent Tamils. Finding that the Government of India was not taking immediate steps to solve the problem, the Dravidar Kazhagam decided to observe the August 15, 1983 as a day of mourning. The Party members were instructed to show their resentment against the Central Government's lukewarm attitude, by wearing black badges on their arms, flying black flags over their houses and hoisting black flags in public places. Further, the members of the State Legislative Party and the Parliament were requested through personal letters not to participate in any of the functions connected with the Independence Day.
By this time, refugees from Sri Lanka were pouring into Tamil Nadu in large numbers. On August 16, 1983 the General Secretary of the Dravidar Kazhagamthe announced that Periyar Rationalist Propaganda Institution would offer educational facilities to the children of Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka. When the President of Sri Lanka Jayawardene
Jayawardene
Jayewardene may refer to:* Mahela Jayawardene , former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team* Prasanna Jayawardene , a Sri Lankan cricketer* Jayawardene Welathanthrige Hemantha Devapriya Boteju , another Sri Lankan cricketer...
visited New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
to enter into a pact with Prime Minister of India, the Dravidar Kazhagam held a black flag demonstration to express its indignation against his inhuman attitude to Tamils. As a result of the meeting which Jayawardene had with the officials of the Indian Government, India agreed to send a unit of the Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
to Sri Lanka for keeping peace in the island; it was called Indian Peace Keeping Force
Indian Peace Keeping Force
Indian Peace Keeping Force was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990...
(IPKF). The Dravidar Kazhagam arranged a number of meetings and expressed condemnation of this agreement signed on July 29, 1987 because it felt that the IPKF would be used to curb the activities of the Tamil rebels who wanted a separate Province Eelam
Eelam
Eelam also spelled Eezham, Ilam or Izham in English is the native Tamil name for the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Eelam is also a name for the spurge , toddy and gold. The exact etymology and the original meaning of the word are not clearly known, although there are number of...
for the Tamils settled in Sri Lanka.
On Independence Day August 15, 1984, the Dravidar Kazhagam observed mourning and its general secretary and members hoisted black flags in many places of Tamil Nadu. K. Veeramani
K. Veeramani
Krishnasamy Veeramani was born on December 2, 1933 in Cuddalore, Cuddalore District, Tamilnadu.He is referred as Aasiriyar K.Veeramani. He is the President of the Dravidar Kazhagam, an Indian organization centered in Tamil Nadu, opposed to the caste system and dedicated to the welfare of...
and five thousand members of the party who were involved in this were arrested. On December 3, 1984, a unit of the Ceylonese Marine Force chased and shot down some Indian fishermen who were fishing off the coast of Rameswaram. When the General Secretary of the Dravidar Kazhagam and the Head of the Madurai Mutt expressed before the Madurai Collector's office their protest against the inaction of the Indian Government, they were arrested. The Dravidar Kazhagam gave help to the families of the fishermen who had been killed. In order to plan and organize continued support for the Tamil Eelam
Tamil Eelam
Tamil Eelam , is the name given by certain Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora to the independent state which they aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Tamil Eelam has no official status or recognition by any other state or authority...
freedom fighters, Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization (TESO) was formed in Madras on May 13, 185 with Dr. Kalaignar Karunanidhi as President and K. Veeramani and Madurai Nedumaran as members.
When the Central Government of India ordered Tamil Eelam leadership to be sent out of Madras, thousands of Tamilians
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
marched along the streets of New Delhi protesting against the provocative order. Five days later TESO successfully prevented movements of trains throughout Tamil Nadu as a protest against the extradition of the Eelam leadership. When the situation on the borders between India and Sri Lanka were tense, Nedumaran heroically sailed to Sri Lanka, videotaped the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka and on his return, went straight to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
to apprise him of the situation in Sri Lanka. Rajiv Gandhi refused to meet him and thus showed his indifference to the sufferings of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
When the Government of India sent an Indian Battalion] to Sri Lanka as IPKF, the Dravidar Kazhagam protested against it. (Periyar Father of Tamil 55) The worst fears of the Dravidar Kazhagam regarding the IPKF proved true within a week or two of its functioning in Sri Lanka. The battalion had to take orders from the Sri Lanka Government and naturally that Government employed the IPKF against the guerrilla fighters of Eelam. Very soon, Indian papers reported that the Indian Government was spending at the rate of rupees one crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....
per day for maintaining the IPKF in Sri Lanka. The general public then realized that making the Indo-Lanka pat was a historic folly on the part of the Indian Government awoke to the realities but stood on false prestige and did not wish to withdraw the IPKF. But ironically, the Government of Sri Lanka insisted on the withdrawal of Indian troops in May 1989 probably because this force tried to prevent the Sri Lanka army from hunting down not only the freedom fighters but the innocent Tamil civilians.
External links
- Periyar - Official homepage of Periyar
- Dravidar Kazhagam - Official homepage of Dravidar Kazhagam