Periyar E. V. Ramasamy

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Periyar [Socrates of South East Asia]

Thanthai Periyar
Born September 17, 1879
Erode, Tamil Nadu, India
Died December 24, 1973
Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation Social Worker
Spouse Nagammal, Maniammai
Website
http://www.periyar.org/
"Periyar" redirects here. For other uses, see Periyar (disambiguation).

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy[1] (Tamil: பெரியார்) (September 17, 1879 – December 24, 1973), also known as Ramaswami,Socrates of South East Asia, EVR, Thanthai Periyar, or Periyar, was an Indian social reformer and politician, who founded the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam.[1][2][3]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Periyar was born as Erode Venkata Naicker Ramaswamy in Erode in Madras Presidency.[4] . He was from a prominent Kannada Balija Naicker caste, a community that descended from the Nayak chiefs of the Vijayanagar Empire. Hence he is called E. V. Ramaswami Naicker. "Periyar" means 'respected one' or an 'elder' in Tamil.Hence he is sometimes called Periyar E. V. Ramaswami Naicker. "Ramaswami" was his given name and "Periyar" means 'respected one' or an 'elder' in Tamil.A University was named after him by the Tamil Nadu Government.[5][6]Periyar could speak three Dravidian languages: Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. Though Kannada was his mother tongue, he mostly used Tamil.[7]

EVR 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." 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 Indians whose religious sentiments were hurt. EVR's most popular writing is The Ramayana: A True Reading (1959), on the Ramayana, a Hindu epic.[8]

MGR paying respects to Periyar's mortal remains
MGR paying respects to Periyar's mortal remains

[edit] Early life

Periyar was the son of a merchant Venkata, who was a devout Hindu of the Vaishnavite school of thought. His mother was Chinna Thayammal alais Muthammal; he had one elder brother named Krishnaswamy and two sisters named Kannamma and Ponnuthoy. Periyar 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. Periyar was married to Nagammal a girl of just 13 in 1898. He became the father of a female child which soon died and he had no more children. After being reprimanded by his father, Periyar left his house for Kasi.[9]

[edit] Pilgrimage to Kashi

He went on a pilgrimage to Varanasi (Kashi) 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.[10] He saw the discrimination against non-brahmins. He had pictured Kasi as a place where all Hindus would be treated equally. This humiliation was the turning point in Periyar's life and it inflamed intense hatred towards the caste system and Hindu religion itself. Ramaswamy was a believer till his visit in Kashi, after which his views changed and he became an rationalist.[11] On returning to Erode - his father delegated all his trade rights to this second son and renamed his major commercial concern under the title: "E.V. Ramasamy Mandi"

[edit] Timeline of Ramaswamy's political struggle and ideology

Dravidian political parties
Flag of DMK

Dravidian movement
 ·
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
 ·
Anti-Hindi agitations

Former Dravidian parties

Justice party · Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani  · Thayga Marumalarchi Kazhagam

Contemporary Dravidian parties

Dravidar Kazhagam
 ·
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
 ·
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
 ·
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
 ·
Pattali Makkal Katchi
 ·
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam
 ·
All India Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
 ·
more
Chief Ministers from Dravidian parties

C. N. Annadurai · V. R. Nedunchezhiyan  · M. Karunanidhi · M. G. Ramachandran · Janaki Ramachandran · J. Jayalalithaa · O. Panneerselvam

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[edit] Ramasami as a Freedom Fighter and Congress Party member 1919 - 1925

Periyar Ramaswamy joined the Indian National Congress in 1919 after quiting his business and resigning public posts including the chairmanship of Erode Municipality he held and wholeheartedly undertook the constructive programme - spreading the use of Khadi, picketing toddy shops, boycotting the shops selling foreign cloth and eradication of untouchability. He courted imprisonment for picketing toddy shops in Erode in 1921. When his wife as well as his sister joined the agitation, it gained momentum, and the administration was forced to come to a compromise.He was arrested during the Non-Cooperation movement and the Temperance Movement and was jailed [12].He was elected the President of the Madras Presidency (Tamil Nadu) Congress Committee in the 1922 Tirupur session and after his attempts for supporting reservation in government jobs and education was defeated in the Congress party .He quit the party in 1925.[13] .[14][15]

[edit] Vaikom struggle - 1924-1925

Periyar Ramaswamy was involved in securing rights to entry into temples and access to temple roads for people of all castes in Vaikom in Kerala, which was part of the princely state of Travancore during 1924. Periyar was the President of the Madras Presidency (Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh) Congress Committee at that time led the agitation after many other leaders had been arrested. Periyar agreed and came to Vaikom in April 1924 and he was arrested but he was unrelenting and refused to leave to Vaikom and the satyagraha gained strength and Mahatma Gandhi, on an invitation from Rajaji, went to Vaikom and began talks with the Queen of Travancore where it was agreed that the police pickets would be removed and that the State police would do nothing to prevent the lower castes using the roads. Periyar refused to participate in the negotiations but he had to agree, reluctantly, to Gandhi's idea that the demand for all Hindus entering the temple be put off at least for the time being He played a role along with other great statesmen and national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, C. Rajagopalachari, and Acharya Vinoba Bhave.[16][17][18] Madras Presidency(Tamil Nadu) Congress passed a resolution umanimously praising Periyar's significant contribution to the Vaikom Satyagarha and hailing him as Vaikom Veerar(Vaikom Hero) in 1925 in the Kanchipuram Session .[19]

[edit] Gurukulam

At Cheranmaadhevi near Tirunelveli in Southern Tamil Nadu, they started a National training school as an alternative to those run under the control of the British Government. That school, known as Gurukulam, was funded by the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and by other non-Brahmin philanthropists. It was managed by V.V.S.Iyer, a Brahmin. Under his management, they showed discrimination between the Brahmin and Non-Brahmin students[20] Brahmin boys were treated in a better way than the others with regard to food, shelter and the curriculum. Along with his companions Periyar stoutly opposed the discriminatory practice and put an end to it.[21]

[edit] Self-Respect Movement: 1925-39

Periyar 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.

[edit] Anti-Hindi Movement from 1937

The anti-Hindi movement in Tamil Nadu started in 1937 when the Congress Government of the Madras Presidency under Rajaji introduced Hindi in the school curriculum. Tamils opposed Hindi immediately and the Justice Party under Sir A. D. Panneerselvam and Periyar organized anti-Hindi protests in 1938 and were 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. In 1939 the Rajaji government quit due to the decision of the Indian National Congress to protest India's participation in World War II. The teaching of Hindi was withdrawn in 1940 by the British governor.[22][23]

[edit] 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. Periyar was elected President when he was in jail for opposing Hindi in 1939[24]

[edit] Dravidar Kazhagam

Ramaswami changed the name of the Justice Party to Dravidar Kazhagam (Party of the Dravidians) from a political party to a social movement. He avoided parliamentary democracy and started his campaigns on his own. His followers who wanted politics split with him after his marriage to a very young woman 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.[25] EVR 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.[26]

[edit] EVR and Kula Kalvi Thittam/Hereditary Education Policy

Rajaji 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.[27] EVR felt that the scheme was a clever device against Dalits and Other Backward Classes as their first generation was getting educated only then.[28] EVR 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. Rajaji quit in 1954 and Kamaraj scrapped it after becoming chief minister.[29][30]

[edit] EVR's ideas on Modern Tamil Alphabet

He instituted Tamil alphabet reforms and his reasons are as follows:[31]

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.

[edit] Periyar and Brahmins

In 1920 when the Justice Party came to power Brahmins occupied about 70% of the high level posts in government and after reservation was introduced by the Justice Party reversed this trend and allowed non-brahmins to raise in the government in Madras Presidency[32].Periyar through in the Congress then supported the Justice Party and later joined opposed the domination of Brahmins who constituted only 3% of the Population over Government jobs,judicary and the Madras University.[33]Now Hindu profession had evolved around caste system, particular castes did only particular professions and it was Varna based where the Brahmin was the highest in the order and learned the Vedas, the Kshatriya ruled the country, Vaishya trading, the Shudra did farming and artisan work, and the Dalit or Dalit did manual labor and was the lowest in the order .[34][35].Ramasami's self-respect movement espoused rationalism and atheism, and although Ramasami had Brahmin colleagues, the movement had currents of anti-Brahminism.[36]

[edit] Periyar - The Movie

Sathyaraj and Khushboo starred in a government-sponsored movie on E.V. Ramaswami. This movie was directed by Gnanashekaran. It was released in 2007.

[edit] UNESCO award

On 27 June 1970, the UNESCO conferred on Periyar the title of "the prophet of New Age, Socrates of South East Asia, Father of the social Reform Movement, and Arch enemy of ignorance, superstitions, meaningless customs and base manners". The award was presented by the Union Education Minister of Education, Dr. Triguna Sen under the presidentship of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.[citation needed]

[edit] Notable followers

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Thomas Pantham, Vrajendra Raj Mehta, Vrajendra Raj Mehta, (2006). Political Ideas in Modern India: thematic explorations. Sage Publications. ISBN 0761934200. 
  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, the Relentless Crusader
  5. ^ About the University
  6. ^ The Hon'ble Ministers garlanded the statue of Thanthai Periyar on his 126th Birth Anniversary
  7. ^ Periyar E.V. Ramasami. buddhiwadi.org.
  8. ^ Amazon.com: The Ramayana ;: A true reading: Books: E. V Ramaswami Naicker
  9. ^ Periyar.org
  10. ^ Periyar.org
  11. ^ http://snphilosophers2005.tripod.com/louis.pdf
  12. ^ BIOGRAPHY OF PERIYAR E.V.RAMASAMI
  13. ^ Periyar Quits Congress Party
  14. ^ Feature
  15. ^ Indian Express: Still the untouchable
  16. ^ www.media-watch.org Coming Soon!
  17. ^ feature
  18. ^ ACA: Online Articles
  19. ^ http://snphilosophers2005.tripod.com/louis.pdf
  20. ^ http://snphilosophers2005.tripod.com/louis.pdf
  21. ^ Microsoft Word - book.doc
  22. ^ A Chronology of Anti-Hindi Agitations
  23. ^ Anti-Hindi sentiments still alive in TN
  24. ^ Periyar's Movement
  25. ^ Microsoft Word - book.doc
  26. ^ Sara Dickey,"The politics of adulation in South India", Journal of Asian Studies Vol 52 No 2 (1993) pages 340-372
  27. ^ What if Periyar had not been born? - Sify.com
  28. ^ Periyar E.V.Ramaswamy - பெரியார்
  29. ^ Microsoft Word - book.doc
  30. ^ Periyar.org
  31. ^ The Revolutionary Sayings Of Periyar
  32. ^ Tehelka - The People's Paper
  33. ^ http://www.columbia.edu/~as48/India%20and%20the%20Tamils.pdf
  34. ^ Varna
  35. ^ Caste and Varna
  36. ^ Gail Omvedt (2006), Dalit Visions: The Anti-caste Movement and the Construction on an Indian Identity, Orient Longman, ISBN 8125028951, <http://books.google.com/books?id=nvSapw8i6k8C&pg=PA95&dq=Anti-Brahmanism&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=dvE4djhCdWEN3Siy24RioEdu-bs> 

[edit] 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.