Justice Party (India)
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Justice Party was the political wing of Then Nala Urimai Sangam (literal translation: The South Indian Welfare Association). The Justice Party derived its name from an English-language daily of that time, named Justice. The Justice Party is not to be confused with the Indian Justice Party, which was founded by Dr. Udit Raj.
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[edit] History
In 1921, the Justice Party came to power after winning the Assembly elections in Madras Province of colonial India. Among its supporters were rich landowners and aristocracy who favoured the British colonial government. The Justice Party ruled the province for next 15 years, from 1921 to 1937, and brought forth several items of legislation:
- Reservations for government jobs based on social groups and castes (believed to be a first in India)
- Bringing the management of temples under the control of the government
The Congress Party campaigned for freedom and opposed the attitude of the Justice Party. The Congress Party had support from leaders in northern India but only Rajaji from the South. Within the party, Rajaji was close to Gandhi, but not well liked by the rest of the leading party members.
One member of the Congress Party, Periyar found it difficult to initiate social reforms as he wanted. The social reforms he proposed were drastic, as he aimed to bring equal opportunities for everybody. These types of policies were not acceptable to the party leaders, who wanted to get rid of colonial rule and become self-governed.
As such Periyar left the Congress Party and started a social reform program. It was called the Self-Respect Movement. The demands put forward by the Self-respect Movement were accepted by the Justice Party and they implemented equal representation for castes based on the caste ratio. Education and employment in the Province became proportionally represented.
The Congress Party did not support these proposals as they were deemed too progressive, and it was thought they could lead to divisions among the Indian people.
[edit] In opposition
Around 1937, Rajaji and the Congress Party defeated the Justice Party and took power in Madras. As part of a national policy, Hindi was introduced as a compulsory subject in schools. Non-Hindi speakers in southern India rebelled. Periyar, and the Self-Respect Movement wanted to put a stop to this turmoil.
Most Brahmins and North Indians thought Sanskrit was a divine language and that Indians needed a language like Hindi (which used many Sanskrit words), or a language similar to Sanskrit as a lingua franca. Tamils thought that Tamil was the most ancient language in India so should be made an official language on equal footing with Hindi. Most of the North Indians also found Hindi to be a foreign tongue, as India is a vast land with several different cultures and languages. Hindi was a relatively young language with a difficult alphabet (rather than the more commonly accepted Roman alphabet for Hindi used in Indonesia and Malaysia).
[edit] Anti-Hindi
Periyar started Anti-Hindi agitations and was arrested and jailed by the Rajaji government.
More than 1200 people, including women and children, were imprisoned in 1938, of which two, Thalamuthu and Natarasan, lost their lives. When the protests gained momentum Periyar was sentenced to imprisonment for two years, although he was released in six months. While in prison, the Justice Party elected him as its president on 29th December, 1938.
The traditional leadership were unable to stem the tide of the popular demand for freedom and the rising popularity of the Congress Party. They could not match the knowledge and skills of Rajaji. They needed new dynamic leaders like Periyar. But, Periyar did not have the proper education to run a state like Madras. He had only 5 years of education. They needed learned and educated leaders with vision and charisma. Periyar was unable to handle complicated social problems in a diplomatic manner. And, he was aging slowly nearing 70. To care for him they found a young girl with whom he fell in love and married. To add insult to injury he nominated her as his heir to the party and his wealth.
[edit] Annadurai
Annadurai entered the Justice Party somewhere when all the old leadership was decimated in an election and an aircraft accident removed Paneerselvam. This left a leadership vacuum. Annadurai was what the party really wanted. He was a man whom the others cannot match in education or intelligence. Most of the Congress leaders were illiterate or from humble backgrounds. Annadurai was from a respected family and more acceptable to the populace.
[edit] Hereditary Education Policy and the Caste Factor
Rajaji introduced a a new education policy for school children based on their family vocation. As per this policy schools will work in the morning and students had to compulsorily learn the family vocation in the afternoon. A dhobi’s son would learn washing clothes, a priest's son chanting hymns and a barber’s son hair cutting and shaving after school in the afternoon. Periyar felt that it is a step backward into the Middle Ages and saw this as clever ploy against the Dalits,Scheduled Castes and Tribes and Backward Classes as there first generation was getting educated only then. Their children had just begun to attend school after centuries of denial of educational opportunities under the rigid Hindu caste system. As Professions were caste based under the rigid Hindu Caste system it was called Kula Kalvi Thittam(Hereditary Education Policy).[1]
Periyar's struggles were well rewarded when Rajaji quit in 1954 and Kamaraj withdraw the Kula Kalvi Thittam after becoming Chief Minister. Periyar was just trying to rectify all the wrongs of the past and wanted to see the improvements without any further delay.[2] [3]
[edit] The World War II
Periyar was offered the power and the support to rule Madras by Rajaji and the Congress Party as they have to resign from the Government. British government declared war on Germany and the Axis partners and involved India without consulting the Indian government. Some of the Congress leaders like Netaji were indeed in alliance with Germany and Japan and wanted to drive the British out of India with an armed struggle.
Periyar and Justice Party supported the British and opposed the Nazis and the Fascists as they were found to be obnoxious and racist. Furthermore, Periyar wanted the social reform more than the political power and he refused to take over the Madras government even though the Congress Party offered to support him from outside.
[edit] Change of Name and Transformation
In 1944, Periyar was transforming the Justice Party and he changed the name to Dravidar Kazhagam to represent all of the South Indians. The origin of several Justice leaders were non-Tamil and most of them originated from Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam backgrounds they named themselves with the Sanskrit word Dravidar. In fact there was no word such as Dravida in Tamil. Tamils nor Telugus nor Kannadas ever had used a word called Dravida. It is mostly used by northern scholars who has not much knowledge about southern culture and its heritage. It was another much abused word like Aryan. There is no proper scientific background to both these words.
Annadurai was dominating the Justice Paty and became the General Secretary and people were attracted to this great learned man who was also a great orator as well.
Karunanidhi was also a rising star and he designed the flag of the new party which was similar to the Japanese national flag; the white colour was replaced by the black colour.
Thus the Justice Party changed its name and became Dravidar Kazhagam. Its objectives were changed to social reform. It left the parliamentary democratic politics forever.
Later members of the Justice Party left Dravidar Kazhagam and started Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and captured power in Tamil Nadu. Annadurai, Karunanidhi and M.G. Ramachandran became chief ministers and ruled Tamil Nadu and brought several reforms up to now. The legacy of the Justice Party is still in power in Tamil Nadu.
[edit] References
[edit] External Links
[edit] Further Reading
- Rajaraman, P.: The Justice Party. A Historical Perspective 1916-37. Poompzhil Publ., Madras 1988.
