TAMIL NATIONAL FORUM
Selected Writings by
Shan Ranjit
Decaying Dravidian Movement
21 July 2000
Introduction
Early Life of Periyar - & Gandhi
Periyar & the Dravidian Movement
Periyar, Buriyani, Frugality &
Marriage
Dravidian Movement
Today: Rudderless and Looking for Direction
Introduction
1925, Villipuram, Tamil Nadu: It was a scorching day in the blistering
Tamil Nadu summer. Goplan - an eight-year old boy belonging to the weaver caste - had
walked almost seven miles to his school in Villipuram from his remote village. Sweat was
pouring from all over his body, and the boy was on the verge of collapsing due to
dehydration. Then to his excitement, he saw a wayside hotel, with a jug full of water
placed out side. He ran towards the jug, dipped the tumbler in to it. As he was about to
quench his thirst, he felt a thundering slap on his face, pushed to the ground and beaten
by the owner of the hotel. As he fell to the ground, he saw the board ‘ Brahmin Hotel
‘ at the top of the hotel. It was only then that Gopalan realized his grave mistake-
drinking water from a Brahmin hotel.
It was such atrocities and cruelties practiced by the Tamil Nadu Brahmins
in the early part of the last century, that catapulted a man by the name E.V.Ramasamy
Naiker- fondly called Periyar by his admirers - in to Tamil Nadu politics. It was Periyar
who started the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu demanding self respect for all the
non-Brahmins. Like Moses freeing the Jews from the Egyptian slavery, it was Periyar who
freed millions of Tamil Nadu Tamils from the Brahmin slavery.
It is most unfortunate that at present , all the dominant Dravidian
parties and their leaders have not only mortgaged their self respect , but are manipulated
by Brahmin interests. It is sad that the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu has not only
lost it goal and but is also decaying. To understand the zeal and the philosophy of the
early Dravidian movement, it is essential to know some thing about Periyar’s life
history and what made him to launch his Dravidian movement.
Early Life of
Periyar - & Gandhi
Periyar was born in 1879 – ten years after Gandhi-. His parents were
well to do Hindu merchants. He had his early education in a Catholic school. Studies never
attracted Periyar. After some time, Periyar dropped out of school, and helped his father
with the business.
When Periyar was twenty years of age, he was disillusioned with his
worldly life. He wanted to experience the spiritual side of the world. He renounced
everything, and went to Banaras (Kashi). Here, he lived as a naked Sanyasi (monk),
meditating and uttering gods’ name all the time. He begged for his food, and slept
along the banks of Ganges. However the hope of finding some kind of spiritual illumination
never came, and he left Banaras for his hometown, disappointed with himself and the life
style of Banaras.
When Periyar returned to his hometown around 1920, he joined the local
municipal politics, and eventually joined the Indian National Congress of Mahatma Gandhi.
He actively supported and participated in Gandhi’s handloom campaign and non-
cooperation movement.
But he was disgusted with the way the Non- Brahmins were treated by the
Brahmins even within the Gandhian movement. Non-Brahmins were not allowed free entry in to
the temples; they were absolutely barred from entering from the inner sanctum sanctorum.
He was furious when the Brahmins priests would throw the holy ash from a distance in to
the hands of Non-Brahmins inside the temples. Only Brahmins could take a bath in the
temple pond, and take the water to do the pooja in side the sanctum sanctorum. Non
Brahmins were not allowed to walk on the lane where the temples were located. He was hurt
when he found out that even in schools that were run by the Ramakrishna mission
foundation, the Brahmins teachers would tell the Non-Brahmins students that they were fit
only to graze cows, and not for any formal education.
The incident that catapulted Periayar in to national politics took place
in Tirivandram in the state of Kerala in the early twenties of last century. Within the
compound of the Royal palace there was a temple and the law courts. One day, a sacred
temple ceremony was going on, and a lawyer by the name Madhavan - a non Brahmin - was not
allowed walk past the temple to enter the courts. This resulted in a protest, and the
Maharaja jailed the protesters. Periyar came to Kerala, campaigned for a whole year until
the temple lane was opened for the non- Brahmins.
The final break with Mahatma Gandhi came when at a congress school –
run by the Gandhi’s party- Brahmin children were fed separately from the non-Brahmin
children. The matter was reported to Gandhi: but his reponse was ambiguous and
lighthearted. At this juncture, Periyar broke away from Gandhi and the Congress party and
formed the Self-Respect Movement in 1925.
Periyar & the
Dravidian Movement
For the next fifty years – he died in December, 1974 at the age of
ninety five – wearing a black shirt, he campaigned against Brahminism and Hinduism;
he campaigned against Congress party and casteism; he mocked at the foolish and insane
Hindu beliefs and customs; he passionately fought for the right of Tamil Nadu women. He
traveled from village to village in Tamil Nadu conducting self-respect marriages for Non-
Brahmins without priests or religious vows. He conducted all his ceremonies in the most
inauspicious times.
He began his discourses by saying, “ There is no god. He who invented
God is a fool. He who propagates God is a fool. He who
worships God is a barbarian.” His
rejection
of God was his rejection of the Brahmins and their language (Sanskrit). Periyar was
hoping to establish a Dravidian, non- Brahmin State called Dravidstan.
Periyar was single minded and obsessed to rein the Brahmin political and
economic power and transfer it to the majority- non Brahmins. A fiery Tamil poet
Bahrathidasan - belonging to weaver caste - ably assisted him in this endeavor.
Periyar,
Buriyani, Frugality & Marriage
Periyar was a large man. He ate enormous portions of food. His food mainly
consisted of Buriyani with mutton, beef or pork; However, he was never fussy about his
food. Periyar was well known for his frugality when it came to money. He would tell his
supporters that instead of garlanding him, to give two rupees to the party. He charged for
his signatures and speeches. When he had ninety-nine rupees, he would ask for another
rupee to make in to a hundred-rupee note and deposit in the bank. He invested his money
wisely in mills and banks. In 1953, he bought Periyar Thiddal in Madras- a vast expanse of
grounds close to the then tram station. By 1973, Periyar was worth about Twenty million
Indian rupees. It is reported that his property is now worth about 20 crores.
In 1949, Periyar’s party split over his decision to marry a young
woman, Maniammai. Her parents were Periyar’s followers. Manniamai was opposed to her
parents plan to get her married to a relative. Hence she left the house. When Periyar came
to know about this, he brought Manniamai to his house in Erode. She functioned as his
secretary cum nurse. Six years later they were married. He was seventy, and she was
thirty-one at that time. Their marriage lasted for 21 years, and she outlived Periyar only
five years. There were many reasons cited for this odd marriage. However, insiders insist
that Periyar – who had accumulated large wealth in his name - did not want this money
to go to his relatives. He wanted the money to be used for the Dravidian cause, and felt
that the only person whom he could trust was his nurse cum secretary.
Dravidian
Movement Today: Rudderless and Looking for Direction
Periyar had only one goal: transfer the political power from the Brahmins
to the Non Brahmins. To achieve this he used various ways, including his bitter attack on
Hinduism that the Brahmins conveniently used as a scapegoat to perpetuate their
atrocities. His goal was achieved when the first Dravidian party came to power in Tamil
Nadu in 1967. Like the conservative movement in United States having lost his zeal at
present- after their convincing victories over global communism and socialism- the
Dravidian movement has lost its ability to energize the people because it had not
identified any new causes since coming to power. Instead of promoting the interests and
prosperity of the Dravidians, it’s ironic that the present Dravidian leaders have
selfishly promoted the interests/prosperity of their sons, nephews and their girlfriends
Taking undue advantage of the disunity among the Dravidians, the Brahmins
who had been on the political sideline for some time, are influencing and shaping the
Dravidian movement today. It is not only ironic but also frightening that the Brahmins
either control or secretly influence the the major Dravidian in Tamil Nadu parties at
present.
The first major split in the Dravidian movement came when the young fire
bands in the party opposed Periyar marrying Maniammai, and formed a new party (DMK) in
1947. At least Periyar was sincere and honest, and publicly married this young woman. Can
this be said of those Dravidian leaders who opposed Periyar’s marriage then ? It is
not only ironic but hilarious that some of these very Dravidian leaders - who had opposed
Periyar's marriage- would later go on to set up ‘Chinna Veddus' (second houses)
throughout the state. Some times the occupants of these ‘Chinna Veddus’ were
none other than Brahmins.
In 1972,
MGR broke from DMK and
formed AIADMK. At that time he had claimed that he was expelled from DMK when he had
questioned some of the accounting practices of the party.
But it is an open secret that the Congress party- dominated by the North
Indian Brahmins – had engineered the split to break the dominance of the Dravidian
movement in Tamil Nadu. MGR was only used as a scapegoat in this matter.
The late MGR – a Menon from Kerala - would be the undisputed and most
popular leader of the Dravidian people for almost a decade until his death in 1987. His
wife came from a Brahmin Family from Varkala in Kerala. His inner circle mainly consisted
of Malayalaee Brahmins. His concubines mostly belonged to the Brahmin caste.
It is an open secret that MGR , who had promised to marry one of his young
Brahmin mistresses at a famous temple located on a hilltop backed out at the last minute
due to his fledging political career- though Periyar ruined his political career by his
marriage, he was gentlemen enough to keep up his promise to Mani Ammai .
MGR also flouted the most important ideological principle of Perriayar and
the Dravidian movement – atheism – by being an avid temple visitor. Following
MGR’s death, there was a fierce struggle for the leadership. However it was a
Karnataka Iyeangar Brahmin and one of MGR’s concubines, Jayalalitha, who ultimately
succeeded him.
However, the mother of all insults to Periyar and the Dravidian movement
comes from none other than Veeramani, the successor of Periyar and Manniammai. He heads
the oldest Dravidian party (Dravida
Kalagham formed by Periyar himself). Today, the man not only wags his tail but has
fallen at the feet of the Kannada Iyangar ‘Amma’ who resides at the Poes garden
in Chennai. What more insults does Periyar and the Dravidian movement need? I have no
doubt that Periyar - who is buried in Periyar Thiddal in the center of Chennai - must have
died a second time over the sorry state of affairs of his beloved Dravidian movement.
In conclusion, unless the Dravidian movement finds new exciting social
issues- like eradication of caste system among the non Brahmins, economic prosperity,
abolition of the shameful female infanticide, and fighting the rising Brahmin anarchy
(shrewdly being projected as the “hinduvata”) - the demise of the Dravidian
movement is certain. |
