Rise of Dravidian parties to power in Tamil Nadu
Encyclopedia
Dravidian parties rose to power and prominence in the political stage of Tamil Nadu, a state
in India, in the 1960s. The rise in power and political support was gradual until Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(DMK), a Dravidian party, formed the government in the state in 1967. Although after the 1970s the Dravidian parties met with many break-aways and have taken rival stances against each other, the seat of power in Tamil Nadu
has been with one or other Dravidian party. The increase in popularity of the Dravidian parties in the 1960s is attributed to several factors including the fall of popularity of the Congress Government in the centre and the North-South disparity as claimed by the Dravidian politics. The series of events climaxed with an anti Hindi agitation which led to the downfall of popularity of the then Indian National Congress
government in the state and eventual rise of Dravidian parties to power.
of Tamil Nadu, India
which trace their origins and ideologies either directly or indirectly to the Dravidian movement
of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
.
The Dravidian parties have traditionally associated themselves with the Dravidian community and thus their primary goal was to achieve social equality and end the domination of North India on politics and economy of Tamil Nadu (a south Indian state).
Although most Dravidian parties are offshoots of Dravidar Kazhagam
(DK), there are a few other parties in Tamil Nadu that did not arise from DK directly. Nevertheless, both the former and the latter are considered as Dravidian parties because of the similarities of their ideals and goals.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(DMK) and its political rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(AIADMK) have been the major players of the Dravidian parties.
. But the popularity of the Congress government in Madras started to decline with its head Rajagopalachari
proposing Hereditary Education Policy
, which the opposition parties saw as an attempt to perpetuate the social hierarchy of the caste system. Congress gained back some ground when K. Kamaraj
who was seen as a “man of the soil” took over. But his resignation to assume presidency of the All-India Congress Committee was detrimental to the state Congress since Kamaraj was much respected by the people, and even by political opponents of Congress including Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
.
Resignation of Kamaraj itself was a cause of deeply declining popularity of Congress all over India and especially in Madras State. Kamaraj sensed that DMK was rapidly gaining popularity in the state and coupled with his fear of fall of Congress-governments in several other states of India as well as the center instigated many other Congress leaders to relinquish cabinet positions. At one point even Nehru would volunteer to resign to strengthen the party, but soon to be advised not to, given the sensitivity of the issue.
After Nehru's death the Indian National Congress had weakened nationally. More than half of the population by then were less than the age of 35 and represented the post-Gandhian era. Nevertheless, the reasons for the resentment found within the Indian mass were more to do to the everyday life rather than just the political turmoil. There were food shortage in several parts of the country and especially the state of Bihar
was close to a famine
.
After Kamaraj's resignation, the next Chief Minister of Madras State, Bhakthavatchalam, wasn’t able to inherit the charm of his predecessor. Persistent charges of ministerial corruption tarnished the image of the Congress. The food scarcity in the state was seen as an artificial scarcity, the mixed product of administrative bungling and private hoarding. The then scenario in Madras State, as observed by political analysts, was "frustration without coherence or direction, a revolutionary situation without revolutionists".
and South India
, both as in languages
as well as in social structure were compounded in Tamil Nadu through the feeling that the nation was dominated by the North and that the South had been both neglected and exploited. The antipathy towards the north developed as the animosity against Sanskrit
; which were two folds as hostility towards Hindi
(a Sanskritic language) as well as Brahmin
(as a proponent of Sanskrit). Brahminism was seen as the instrument of this "tyranny". Ritually and socially superior to the non-Brahmin masses, a Brahmin commanded a dominant political and economic position in Tamil Nadu. With the rise of Dravidar Kazhagam
and birth of DMK, along with the ascent of Kamaraj in the Congress, the Brahmin dominance was already on the process of being displaced in the Madras State.
The North South divide in India was more prominent by the 1960s with the both the mass
and the politicians of the North looking at English
as a foreign language that has usurped the rightful place of indigenous languages, whereas the South feared that English to be replaced by Hindi which is equally foreign to its tongues.
had undergone a cultural renaissance in the 20th century shedding off Sanskrit influence on its language.
This language revival had exposed the Tamils on the richness of their literature and more than two thousand years of history. It was seen by Tamils that Hindi, an undeveloped language being imposed on them. With this renaissance coupled with the new found awareness of its uniqueness when compared to the Northern Indian languages led to suspicion on anything that is Northern. Anti-Brahminism sentiments that had arisen further complicated the antipathy to the North, since it was seen by leaders like Periyar as an import from the North. Periyar and his DK, as did the DK’s predecessor Justice Party
, saw the British Raj
as the only alternative to Brahmin dominance. The resultant Tamil nationalism
had till then not been expressed as violence. Both under the British and in independent India the Tamils have had a somewhat privileged position, since they were much sought after as labour, partly because the standard of education and knowledge of English have been to some extent higher than elsewhere in India and consequently Tamils have secured a large share of appointments in government service and education. Perhaps because of this, Tamil linguistic feelings had never turned against English. As Tamils saw English not as a threat, but a tool for advancement and protection of their interest, replacing English with Hindi even as a suggestion provoked violently adverse reactions, in particular, amongst students. Thus introduction of Hindi as a national language was seen as direct measure of the North to dominate the South culturally, economically, and politically. For them the use of English as an official language meant social equality where a Northerner and a Southerner start at a same point in English.
Report of 1928. An Official Language Commission appointed under the terms of the Constitution in 1955 to review the situation supported Hindi as the sole official language, although members from Bengal
and Madras dissented in favour of English. As of 1961 census, there were 1652 languages. Hindi as official language was opposed stating two reasons; the first because numbers of people with knowledge on English language was fairly evenly spread and also that imposition of Hindi would give a major advantage in terms of job and educational possibilities to those who have Hindi as their mother tongue. In effect a Tamil who would desire to pursue into union civil service would have to learn three languages, Tamil, Hindi and English, which are members of three different language families and each written in a different script. Therefore a three-language formula
proposed was seen as a great educational burden imposed on non-Hindi-speaking states. Nehru promised in 1959 that the interests of the non-Hindi speakers will be safeguarded and so did Lal Bahadur Shastri
later, but those promises didn’t put the fears of non-Hindi speakers to rest.
(now Karnataka
), Andhra and Kerala
, adopted a three language formula where the students would be expected to study English, Hindi, and their regional language. While the north was keen on getting the southern curriculum with compulsory Hindi, it was demanded from the south that northern states are asked to take on a three language policy for themselves too with one of them being a Dravidian language. The northern states either refused to adopt a three language formula or wherever a three language formula was implemented in the north an option for taking Sanskrit was implemented, defeating the purpose of the policy itself.
, Madhya Pradesh
, Rajasthan
and Uttar Pradesh
organised anti-English riots involving, violence and lawlessness against government properties. Thus as the North-South divide further deepened, the stage was set for conflict between the Congress-led government and the opposition parties, but the scale and development of the conflict were expected by none.
Robert Hardgrave Jr, professor of humanities, government and Asian studies, suggests that the elements contributing to the riots were not majorly instigated by DMK or Leftists or even the industrialists, as the Congress government of the state suggested, but were genuine frustrations and discontentment which lay beneath the surface of the people of the state. While some industrialists funded student movements and the opposition parties (DMK and Swatantara party) helped move it politically, it is well observed that agitation was a spontaneous reaction, which directly reflected the anger of the common people, especially the students.
As if the embarrassment of high involvement of the commoner in the agitations is not enough for the Congress, Baktavatsalam further added fuel to fire, by claiming that he possessed documents proving the involvement of DMK in instigating violence, the documents which he could never publish.
had asked students to return to classes and leave the agitation, some high profile leaders in DMK were still active and popular within the students. One of them being Karunanidhi, who when was later arrested attained a status of “martyred hero”. However, although the party did not instigate the violence directly it had prepared the scene rather by accident, by nurturing the antipathy of the South to the North. Nevertheless, the Anti Hindi agitation and the popularity gained through it aided DMK to a great extent to win the 1967 general elections.
the then treasurer of the DMK formed his splinter party Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in 1972 after a personal feud with the DMK chief M. Karunanidhi
His AIADMK, as another Dravidian party, would take charge of the government after winning state elections in 1977. Since then either AIADMK or DMK formed the governments in Tamil Nadu.
States and territories of India
India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...
in India, in the 1960s. The rise in power and political support was gradual until 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), a Dravidian party, formed the government in the state in 1967. Although after the 1970s the Dravidian parties met with many break-aways and have taken rival stances against each other, the seat of power in 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...
has been with one or other Dravidian party. The increase in popularity of the Dravidian parties in the 1960s is attributed to several factors including the fall of popularity of the Congress Government in the centre and the North-South disparity as claimed by the Dravidian politics. The series of events climaxed with an anti Hindi agitation which led to the downfall of popularity of the then 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...
government in the state and eventual rise of Dravidian parties to power.
Background
Dravidian parties includes an array of regional political parties in the stateStates and territories of India
India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...
of Tamil Nadu, India
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...
which trace their origins and ideologies either directly or indirectly to the Dravidian movement
Self-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...
of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
Erode Venkata Ramasamy , affectionately called by his followers as Periyar , Thanthai Periyar or E. V...
.
The Dravidian parties have traditionally associated themselves with the Dravidian community and thus their primary goal was to achieve social equality and end the domination of North India on politics and economy of Tamil Nadu (a south Indian state).
Although most Dravidian parties are offshoots of Dravidar Kazhagam
Dravidar Kazhagam
Dravidar Kazhagam or Dravida Kazhagam was the first fully Dravidian party in India. It was a radical party formed by E. V. Ramaswamy, also called Thanthai Periyar of erstwhile Madras Presidency...
(DK), there are a few other parties in Tamil Nadu that did not arise from DK directly. Nevertheless, both the former and the latter are considered as Dravidian parties because of the similarities of their ideals and goals.
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) and its political rival 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) have been the major players of the Dravidian parties.
Decline of Congress Party’s popularity
Immediately after Indian independence, the Congress party was popular and thus was electorally very successful forming governments in most of the states including the Madras StateMadras State
Madras State was the name by which the Indian districts in Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Northern Kerala, Bellary and Dakshina Kannada were collectively known as from 1950 to 1953....
. But the popularity of the Congress government in Madras started to decline with its head Rajagopalachari
Rajagopalachari
Rajagopalachari is a popular name in use amongst the Iyengar community of South IndiaSome prominent Rajagopalacahris are:* C. Rajagopalachari, also known as Rajaji: Indian freedom fighter, Gandhian, leader of the Indian National Congress and founder of the Swatantra party.* Sir Perungavur...
proposing Hereditary Education Policy
Hereditary Education Policy
The Modified Scheme of Elementary Education or New Scheme of Elementary Education or Madras Scheme of Elementary Education dubbed by its critics as Kula Kalvi Thittam , was an abortive attempt at education reform introduced by the Indian National Congress Government of the Madras State, led by C....
, which the opposition parties saw as an attempt to perpetuate the social hierarchy of the caste system. Congress gained back some ground when K. Kamaraj
K. Kamaraj
Kumarasami Kamaraj better known as K. Kamaraj was an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu widely acknowledged as the "Kingmaker" in Indian politics during the 1960s. He was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu during 1954-1963 and a Member of Parliament during 1952-1954 and 1969-1975...
who was seen as a “man of the soil” took over. But his resignation to assume presidency of the All-India Congress Committee was detrimental to the state Congress since Kamaraj was much respected by the people, and even by political opponents of Congress including Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
Erode Venkata Ramasamy , affectionately called by his followers as Periyar , Thanthai Periyar or E. V...
.
Resignation of Kamaraj itself was a cause of deeply declining popularity of Congress all over India and especially in Madras State. Kamaraj sensed that DMK was rapidly gaining popularity in the state and coupled with his fear of fall of Congress-governments in several other states of India as well as the center instigated many other Congress leaders to relinquish cabinet positions. At one point even Nehru would volunteer to resign to strengthen the party, but soon to be advised not to, given the sensitivity of the issue.
After Nehru's death the Indian National Congress had weakened nationally. More than half of the population by then were less than the age of 35 and represented the post-Gandhian era. Nevertheless, the reasons for the resentment found within the Indian mass were more to do to the everyday life rather than just the political turmoil. There were food shortage in several parts of the country and especially the state of Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
was close to a famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
.
After Kamaraj's resignation, the next Chief Minister of Madras State, Bhakthavatchalam, wasn’t able to inherit the charm of his predecessor. Persistent charges of ministerial corruption tarnished the image of the Congress. The food scarcity in the state was seen as an artificial scarcity, the mixed product of administrative bungling and private hoarding. The then scenario in Madras State, as observed by political analysts, was "frustration without coherence or direction, a revolutionary situation without revolutionists".
North South divide
The differences between NorthNorth 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 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...
, both as in languages
Languages of India
The languages of India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-European languages—Indo-Aryan and the Dravidian languages...
as well as in social structure were compounded in Tamil Nadu through the feeling that the nation was dominated by the North and that the South had been both neglected and exploited. The antipathy towards the north developed as the animosity against 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...
; which were two folds as hostility towards 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...
(a Sanskritic language) as well as Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
(as a proponent of Sanskrit). Brahminism was seen as the instrument of this "tyranny". Ritually and socially superior to the non-Brahmin masses, a Brahmin commanded a dominant political and economic position in Tamil Nadu. With the rise of Dravidar Kazhagam
Dravidar Kazhagam
Dravidar Kazhagam or Dravida Kazhagam was the first fully Dravidian party in India. It was a radical party formed by E. V. Ramaswamy, also called Thanthai Periyar of erstwhile Madras Presidency...
and birth of DMK, along with the ascent of Kamaraj in the Congress, the Brahmin dominance was already on the process of being displaced in the Madras State.
The North South divide in India was more prominent by the 1960s with the both the mass
and the politicians of the North looking at English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as a foreign language that has usurped the rightful place of indigenous languages, whereas the South feared that English to be replaced by Hindi which is equally foreign to its tongues.
Tamil renaissance and nationalism
TamilTamil 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...
had undergone a cultural renaissance in the 20th century shedding off Sanskrit influence on its language.
This language revival had exposed the Tamils on the richness of their literature and more than two thousand years of history. It was seen by Tamils that Hindi, an undeveloped language being imposed on them. With this renaissance coupled with the new found awareness of its uniqueness when compared to the Northern Indian languages led to suspicion on anything that is Northern. Anti-Brahminism sentiments that had arisen further complicated the antipathy to the North, since it was seen by leaders like Periyar as an import from the North. Periyar and his DK, as did the DK’s predecessor Justice Party
Justice Party (India)
The Justice Party , officially known as South Indian Liberal Federation, was a political party in the Madras Presidency of British India. The party was established in 1917 by T. M. Nair and Theagaroya Chetty as a result of a series of non-Brahmin conferences and meetings in the presidency...
, saw the British Raj
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...
as the only alternative to Brahmin dominance. The resultant Tamil nationalism
Tamil nationalism
Tamil nationalism in India is an aspiration by some Tamils to establish, at minimum, self determination or at maximum secession from India to establish an Independent Tamil State of which would consist of today's Tamil nadu, Puducherry and Tamil Eelam of Sri Lanka...
had till then not been expressed as violence. Both under the British and in independent India the Tamils have had a somewhat privileged position, since they were much sought after as labour, partly because the standard of education and knowledge of English have been to some extent higher than elsewhere in India and consequently Tamils have secured a large share of appointments in government service and education. Perhaps because of this, Tamil linguistic feelings had never turned against English. As Tamils saw English not as a threat, but a tool for advancement and protection of their interest, replacing English with Hindi even as a suggestion provoked violently adverse reactions, in particular, amongst students. Thus introduction of Hindi as a national language was seen as direct measure of the North to dominate the South culturally, economically, and politically. For them the use of English as an official language meant social equality where a Northerner and a Southerner start at a same point in English.
Background
The major driving force of the Anti-Hindi agitation was not the questioning of protecting Tamil, but questions of future of Tamils. Hindi as a suitable candidate for the official language of India after independence was first proposed by Motilal NehruMotilal Nehru
Motilal Nehru was an early Indian independence activist and leader of the Indian National Congress, who remained Congress President twice, and...
Report of 1928. An Official Language Commission appointed under the terms of the Constitution in 1955 to review the situation supported Hindi as the sole official language, although members from Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
and Madras dissented in favour of English. As of 1961 census, there were 1652 languages. Hindi as official language was opposed stating two reasons; the first because numbers of people with knowledge on English language was fairly evenly spread and also that imposition of Hindi would give a major advantage in terms of job and educational possibilities to those who have Hindi as their mother tongue. In effect a Tamil who would desire to pursue into union civil service would have to learn three languages, Tamil, Hindi and English, which are members of three different language families and each written in a different script. Therefore a three-language formula
Three-language formula
The Three-language formula is a formula of language learning formulated by the Union Education Ministry of the Government of India in consultation with the states. The formula was enunciated in the 1968 National Policy Resolution....
proposed was seen as a great educational burden imposed on non-Hindi-speaking states. Nehru promised in 1959 that the interests of the non-Hindi speakers will be safeguarded and so did Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Srivastava Shastri was the second Prime Minister of the Republic of India and a significant figure in the Indian independence movement.-Early life:...
later, but those promises didn’t put the fears of non-Hindi speakers to rest.
Rise of anti-Hindi sentiments
The support on opposition of Hindi as a national language by the education elite was well evident by the early 1960s where DMK, a champion of this cause, controlled corporations of all the major towns in the Madras State. As the time clocked down to the 26 of January 1965, the threshold for the end of use of English as official language, neither Nehru’s promise or the constitutional amendments of 1963 could calm the Tamil population, as it was obvious for them that moves to publicise Hindi as a language for Civil service examinations were underway by the central government.Three language formula
The other southern states, Mysore StateMysore State
The Kingdom of Mysore was one of the three largest princely states within the erstwhile British Empire of India. Upon India gaining its independence in 1947, the Maharaja of Mysore merged his realm with the Union of India...
(now Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
), Andhra and Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, adopted a three language formula where the students would be expected to study English, Hindi, and their regional language. While the north was keen on getting the southern curriculum with compulsory Hindi, it was demanded from the south that northern states are asked to take on a three language policy for themselves too with one of them being a Dravidian language. The northern states either refused to adopt a three language formula or wherever a three language formula was implemented in the north an option for taking Sanskrit was implemented, defeating the purpose of the policy itself.
Inaction of the state's Congress party
With the surging fears haunting the people of Madras, Congress party of the state would do nothing bigger than a small demonstration and insist the people that there was no ground for alarm. In contrast, DMK held an Anti-Hindi Conference in Trichirapalli on 17 January 1965. The conference was supported by all major opposition parties and funded by major wealthy industrialists — the industrialists who themselves feared of losing into influence of the North if Hindi be made the official language. The conference decided to hold the 26 January (the fifteen anniversary of India’s republic day) as a Day of Mourning. Madras State’s Chief Minister Bhakthavatchalam declared a warning that the state government would not tolerate the sanctity of the Republic day blasphemed. Hence DMK advanced the day of mourning by two days, id est. on 24 January. Although no longer a day of mourning, plans of demonstration on the 26th were still underway. DMK and its then aly, Swatantara Party had asked its members to fly black flags in their homes on that day. Bhakthavatchalam declared that such acts would be considered traitorous.Further North-South divide
Annadurai, who by now was trying hard to erase his party’s secessionist image, proclaimed that the official slogan of the agitation will be “Down with Hindi; Long live the Republic” – in Tamil – "Hindi Ozhiga; Kudiyarasu Vāzhga". With the tensions tightening in the South, some Northern states, such as BiharBihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
, Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
and Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
organised anti-English riots involving, violence and lawlessness against government properties. Thus as the North-South divide further deepened, the stage was set for conflict between the Congress-led government and the opposition parties, but the scale and development of the conflict were expected by none.
Unfolding of events
24 January 1965, the day of mourning, would pass more peaceful than anticipated. Since Bhakthavatchalam had warned the students that their participation in politics won’t be tolerated, the student associations had planned a day of demonstration throughout the state on January 25, a day after the DMK’s day of mourning. On the morning of the 25th student of one of the colleges in Madurai assembled at the college gate, shouted slogans against Hindi imposition and burnt an effigy of "Hindi demoness". As they left in procession chanting slogans they were joined by students of other colleges. When the students approached the Congress Party district office, which lay on the route, some Congress volunteers who had arrived in a Jeep shouted insults and obscenities at the students. A volley of sandals from the students returned the insult. The provoked Congress volunteers, who ran back into the Party’s office, returned with knives and attacked students, wounding seven. As the riot broke out, students set fire to the pandal in the Congress office, constructed for the Republic day celebrations. A procession which should have been an otherwise peaceful demonstration, sparked into two month long riots throughout the state. Some unofficial report place figures on the number of deaths close to three hundred. Some students poured gasoline and immolated themselves. Brutality of police firing and lathi-charges only deepened the resentment. Two policemen were beaten to death by mob near Coimbatore and in the state capital Madras mob set fire to railway cars and looted stores.Robert Hardgrave Jr, professor of humanities, government and Asian studies, suggests that the elements contributing to the riots were not majorly instigated by DMK or Leftists or even the industrialists, as the Congress government of the state suggested, but were genuine frustrations and discontentment which lay beneath the surface of the people of the state. While some industrialists funded student movements and the opposition parties (DMK and Swatantara party) helped move it politically, it is well observed that agitation was a spontaneous reaction, which directly reflected the anger of the common people, especially the students.
As if the embarrassment of high involvement of the commoner in the agitations is not enough for the Congress, Baktavatsalam further added fuel to fire, by claiming that he possessed documents proving the involvement of DMK in instigating violence, the documents which he could never publish.
DMK's involvement in anti-Hindi agitation
Although AnnaduraiAnnadurai
Annadurai can refer to:* C. N. Annadurai, an Indian politician* Mylswamy Annadurai, an Indian scientist...
had asked students to return to classes and leave the agitation, some high profile leaders in DMK were still active and popular within the students. One of them being Karunanidhi, who when was later arrested attained a status of “martyred hero”. However, although the party did not instigate the violence directly it had prepared the scene rather by accident, by nurturing the antipathy of the South to the North. Nevertheless, the Anti Hindi agitation and the popularity gained through it aided DMK to a great extent to win the 1967 general elections.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
When fourth General Elections (1967) were announced in India, the nation was severe state of crisis, both politically and economically. Some, according to reports, suggested to postpone the general election or even not to conduct it at all. The Times (London) had mentioned to the general election as “the fourth – and surely last – general election”. Although the political elite would counter the critics as calling it the “first true General Elections that India witnessed”, the wheels of fortune in the political scenario in India was rapidly changing. It can be noted that DMK was one of the two parties (the other party to see such fortunes was Muslim League with 3 of 3 seats) to win all the seats it contested in the national elections, winning 25 of 25 and emerged as the third major opposition party in the Indian Parliament. Kamaraj, who was then the President of the Congress party, himself lost to rather less known “student leader” in his home constituency. DMK, further had been voted by more than 6 million voters in the state assembly winning 138 out of 173 seats it contested for. The electoral victory in 1967 is also reputed to an electoral fusion among the non-Congress parties to avoid a split in the Opposition votes. Rajagopalachari, a former senior leader of the Congress party, had by then left the Congress and launched the right-wing Swatantra Party. He played a vital role in bringing about the electoral fusion amongst the opposition parties to align against the Congress.Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
M. G. RamachandranM. G. Ramachandran
Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran , popularly known by his initials , was an Indian film actor, director, producer and politician....
the then treasurer of the DMK formed his splinter party Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in 1972 after a personal feud with the DMK chief M. Karunanidhi
M. Karunanidhi
Muthuvel Karunanidhi is an Indian politician and a former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He is the head of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam , a Dravidian political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. He has been the leader of the DMK since the death of its founder, C. N...
His AIADMK, as another Dravidian party, would take charge of the government after winning state elections in 1977. Since then either AIADMK or DMK formed the governments in Tamil Nadu.