Periyar: A Political Biography of E.V. Ramaswamy

by Bala Jeyaraman

Examples of the goodwill that existed between both sides can be found in his speeches during that period.

The secessionist idea was neither clear nor well thought out.

In 1942, in an attempt to discredit the old literary works, he chose two among them and announced that they would be burned for belittling Tamils. The Ramayana and Periyapuranam,40 the two unfortunate works to be chosen, were

offered a fresh new perspective on the story of Rama. Contrary to the usual practice, he had depicted Rama as a villain, while extolling the virtues of the Rakshasa king Ravana.

He told his friends to look at it only as a propaganda piece rather than genuine literary criticism.

While he did not succeed in demonizing Rama, he did partially succeed in resurrecting Ravana as a champion of Dravidians.

The Congress had successfully portrayed the Justice Party as anti-national (with good cause) and the label had stuck. Periyar wanted to get rid of that taint.

The debate on the resolutions raged on continuously for thirty-five

Now Periyar proposed that the name be changed to ‘Dravidar Kazhagam’.

The label ‘Tamil’ is too narrow to represent our diverse nature. Look around us—Kannappar here is a Telugu,

The differences and superstitions that plague the Dravidian people in the name of religion and tradition must be eradicated. Dravidians should be transformed into a society filled with generosity and knowledge.

The festering suspicion through which Periyar viewed Anna led to increasingly strained relations and ended with a split of the Dravidar Kazhagam in 1949.

‘Dravidian Liberation Army’

Anna, the conciliator, saw the need to move the party to the mainstream, while Periyar, the iconoclast, was uncompromising in his ideals.

‘kulla nari’ (cunning

Periyar did not have great regard for litterateurs and artists. He

We have been fighting two enemies so far; one of them is leaving now. Our task is getting easier. So it is an occasion for joy, not mourning.

There can be only one leader for a party. It is absolutely mandatory for all others to follow him... Now you have to blindly follow what I am saying. Yes, this is a form of dictatorship. If you don’t like it you are free to leave. Showing dissent from within is mischievous; it is just a way to make a name for yourselves.

Whenever the Dravidian movement came close to succumbing to dissent and difficulties, the Congressmen would do something profoundly stupid to rejuvenate it.

It is only fair that an ageing father should hand over the responsibilities to his son and I am handing over the keys to the strong box [party] to my son [Anna].

The third and final break between Periyar and Anna was over the issue of Periyar’s marriage to Maniammai.

made up his mind to marry her and make her his heir. On 14 May, when Rajaji (as governor general) visited Tiruvannamalai, Periyar met him along with Maniammai.

I was looking for a person to whom I can entrust my party and properties. I have not found such a person so far. I am not insulting anyone when I say I have not found anyone trustworthy. Who amongst you has dedicated yourself completely for our cause and the party?—The answer is no one.

An enraged Periyar accused his opponents of planning to murder him and seize control of the party.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

The campaign started by the Salem Brahmin Welfare Association was given good publicity by the Brahmin-owned press.

Periyar was outraged. He felt that the hard-earned victories of the last twenty years were going down the drain because of the new constitution.

On 18 June 1951, the constitutional amendment was passed and the communal GO was restored.

to popularize and propagate Hindi in South India. The zeal of Hindi proponents alarmed even Rajaji, who had introduced compulsory Hindi in Tamil Nadu only fourteen years earlier.

of action. Periyar chose to support communists. The Communist Party of India (CPI) had recently joined the political mainstream after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Indian government through armed struggle.66

not fully comfortable with the idea of allying with Periyar. A few Brahmin communist leaders like S.A. Dange justified the anti-Brahminism of the DK saying that in South India, agrarian revolt was anti-Brahmin in nature.

Giving support in exchange for a pledge is absurd. What surety does the DMK have that their candidates will honour that pledge? And what can he [Anna] do if they break their word?

When it became clear that no one had won an outright majority in Madras, the opposition parties met in March 1952 and tried to form an anti-Congress coalition. The communists agreed to have T. Prakasam68 (a former Congress chief minister who had crushed the Telengana rebellion ruthlessly) as the leader of the new coalition.

The Congress party was in a bind—they could not let communists come to power. In desperation, they turned to Rajaji, who by then was cooling his heels in bitter retirement.69 Governor Sri Prakasa invited Rajaji to form the government ignoring the claims of Prakasam and gave him ample time to prove his majority in the assembly.

However, similar to events in 1937, Rajaji proved to be his own undoing.

On 27 May 1953 (Buddha Purnima), Periyar suddenly announced that the Dravidar Kazhagam would break idols of Pillaiyar (Ganesh) for eradicating superstitions and to spread awareness among the people.

Prior to the Kula Kalvi agitation, his former protégés had been tagging along with the Dravidar Kazhagam in the anti-Hindi campaign and other protests. But when he had taken his eyes off the Kula Kalvi agitation, they had moved swiftly to occupy the vacuum.

made the education minister C. Subramaniam (who ironically had been among the scheme’s original architects) drop it citing public opposition.

Thus, it was a strange sight when he started to campaign for a Congress candidate in the Gudiyatham by-election in August 1954.

Periyar believed it was the first time a Tamil had become chief minister of the state and good things would come out of it.76

When Periyar was away on a trip to Malaysia, Kamaraj made a speech at a meeting organized by the Vanniyar caste association, in which he supported the non-Brahmin ideology of the Dravidar Kazhagam.

The communists were vocal supporters of linguistic states.

Several border regions became contested as more than one state claimed them.

Periyar, who had once demanded a Dravida Nadu with nearly identical boundaries, was now opposed to such an entity.

and reserved his strongest attacks for his former disciples. He even campaigned for Anna’s opponent in Kanchipuram constituency (ironically a Brahmin).

While the DMK was preparing to join the mainstream, Periyar was busy fighting caste wars.

He declared the tuft and the punool (sacred thread) worn by the Brahmins as a symbol of high caste oppression and announced his intention to cut them off.

Soon the campaign turned ugly with frequent incidents of violence against Brahmins.

the DMK had been slowly positioning itself as a moderate alternative to the Dravidar Kazhagam.

Rajaji had converted the CRC into a full-fledged political party called the Swatantara Party in October 1959 and launched an offensive on the Congress from the right.