Dravidar Kazhagam
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Dravidian movement |
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Former Dravidian parties Justice party · Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani · Thayga Marumalarchi Kazhagam |
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Contemporary Dravidian parties Dravidar Kazhagam |
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Chief Ministers from Dravidian parties
C. N. Annadurai · V. R. Nedunchezhiyan · M. Karunanidhi · M. G. Ramachandran · Janaki Ramachandran · J. Jayalalithaa · O. Panneerselvam |
Dravidar Kazhagam or Dravida Kazhagam (Dravidian Organization) was the first fully Dravidian party in India. It was a radical party formed by E. V. Ramaswamy, also called Thanthai Periyar (The Noble Father) of erstwhile Madras Presidency. Its original goals were to eradicate the ills of the existing caste system including untouchability and on a grander scale to obtain a "Dravida Nadu" or Dravidian nation mainly from the Madras Presidency. The founders were motivated by theories that the Brahmins (who migrated from the north) and Aryans were wreaking havoc on the local Dravidian populace. The DK thus became the first fully Dravidian party and would in turn give birth to many other Dravidian parties like the DMK and AIADMK over the course of time.
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[edit] Origins
The roots of the DK lie in the Self Respect Movement, founded by its charismatic leader, Periyar E. V. Ramaswami. Periyar formed the Self Respect Movement in 1925, breaking in the process from the Congress party of which he had been a member until then. The Self Respect Movement represented "non-Brahmins". The non-Brahmin community was defined to include all South Indians other than Brahmins. The South Indian Liberal Federation (also called the Justice Party) was an elite organization, formed in 1916, which also claimed to promote non-Brahmin interests. The Self Respect Movement and the Justice Party were merged in 1938 under Periyar's leadership. The name of this party was changed to the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) in 1944, at the same time that the party was more formally organised. The DK opposed Brahminical social, political and ritual dominance, and aimed to form a separate country of Dravida Nadu, to include either all of South India or the predominantly Tamil-speaking regions. Its sharp opposition to religion, especially Brahminical Hinduism, was widely popular. Dravidian ideology is based on staunch anti-Brahminism, and is anti-Sanskrit and anti-North India. However, it never became a full-fledged political party by choice; instead, it prefers to be a cultural and social reformist movement and a pressure group leaving active politics to its progeny, DMK and AIADMK.
[edit] Work
The work of the DK largely centered around annihilation of caste, removing untouchability, opposing the Brahminism often through nonviolent methods, denouncing Hindu Gods and Goddesses, seeking to educate people on superstitions and ignorance as well as women's liberation. The workers of DK were often quite visible as they wore black shirts and white dhotis. The party was very much opposed to Hindi as well as all Northern traditions seen as maligning the south and its unique culture. It continues to remove astrology and other superstitions viz. numerology, palmistry, etc.
[edit] Controversies
The Party was well known for its hard line approach to fight for the Dravidian rights and was often involved in mass attempts to change the system outright. One such incident involved bringing in Adi Dravidas into the sanctum sanctorum and asking Brahmin priests to worship in Tamil instead of Sanskrit, since Tamil was propagated to be inferior in comparison to Sanskrit, a language that was restricted only to the Brahmin community. During Indian independence in 1947, the party has not accepted as Periyar viewed Independence as the transfer of power from British to the Brahmin-Bania combine who occupied all important positions. With a firm belief that caste-based reservations are the only way to empower the under-represented, they supported reservations in education and employment right from 1919. Periyar was instrumental in introducing reservation in Tamil Nadu from 1921 even before independence.
[edit] The split
As the party gained prominence, many in the party wanted to contest in the elections and inplement their ideology through democratic means. Among these were Annadurai and his followers. However, Periyar argued that politics will force ideology to the background and DK remained a social organization. Moreover, many felt that a greater Dravida Nadu was impossible and even Periyar resigned to the fact that even an independent Tamil Nadu would be a remarkable achievement. With a straining relationship in the organization, Periyar, supreme leader of the party, married Maniammai in her thirties, as an arrangement of the future of the party. Furthermore, he began to give more power and control to her and is even reported to have said that she would be his successor. This enraged some members of the party who broke up and formed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, later winning the elections in Tamil Nadu. The party was later headed by Veeramani after the demise of Maniammai.
[edit] Legacy
The organization laid the foundation for further Dravidian involvement into politics. It singularly enthused a new Dravidian spirit that later on led to the formation of many parties in the southern states that would eventually challenge the Indian National Congress stranglehold. Though it failed to achieve its grandiose idea of an independent Dravidian nation, it fostered a spirit of unity amongst the Dravidians, especially in Tamilians who continue to oppose Hindi to this day. Its influence is especially felt in Tamil Nadu where since 1967, only the Dravidian parties have won the assembly elections. [1]
While it can be said that DK was instrumental in lessening the importance of Brahmins on Tamil society especially in politics and administration, ultimately the ideas of equality and equal opportunity adopted by the Indian Constitution contributed a little to make the entire educated and political classes which wield influence. DK was one force which ploughed upside down the traditional Hindu and Indian attitudes for the betterment of the underprivileged.
[edit] External links
- Periyar - Official homepage of Periyar
- Dravidar Kazhagam - Official homepage of Dravidar Kazhagam
