| Periyar E. V. Ramasamy |
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| Ideologies |
| Activities |
Kudi Arasu (also pronounced as Kudiyarasu; English: Republic) was a Tamil weekly magazine published by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy in Madras Presidency (present-day Tamil Nadu) in India.
| Periyar E. V. Ramasamy |
|---|
| Ideologies |
| Activities |
Kudi Arasu (also pronounced as Kudiyarasu; English: Republic) was a Tamil weekly magazine published by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy in Madras Presidency (present-day Tamil Nadu) in India.
Periyar started Kudi Arasu on 2 May 1925 in Erode [1] with K. M. Thangaperumal pillai as the editor. Its initial publications were issued weekly on Sunday with 16 pages at a cost of one anna. In November 1925, Periyar quit the Indian National Congress after his failed attempt to bring reservation for non-Brahmins in educational institutions and government jobs. [2] S. Ramanathan who founded Self Respect Movement in 1921 along with like minded friends, invited EVR to spearhead the Self-Respect Movement to propagate self-respect among Indians, especially Tamils. The magazine became the mouthpiece of the movement. [3] [4] The magazine circulated in the Tamil diaspora, for which Thamizhavel G. Sarangapani played a prominent role. [5] It had Periyar's wife Nagammai, his sister Kannammal [1] and his brother E. V. Krishnasamy [6] as the publisher for a period of time when he was on tour or arrested. It ceased publication on 5 November 1949.[ citation needed ]
Periyar wrote several articles on women's rights, on atheism and against the caste system. Others like M. Singaravelu wrote many articles on socialism. [7]
In an editorial dated 29 March 1931, Periyar criticised Mahatma Gandhi for Bhagat Singh's death. [6] He wrote,
There is no one who has not condoled the death of Mr. Bhagat Singh by hanging. There is none who has not condemned the government for hanging him. Besides, we now see several people known as patriots and national heroes scolding Mr. Gandhi for the happening of this event. [8]
The Madras government of the British Raj banned the magazine at several occasions for various reasons including sedition and for propagating communism. In 1935, the Tamil version of Why I am an Atheist was banned, [9] and translator P. Jeevanandham and publisher E.V. Krishnasamy were arrested. [6]
In 2010, works from between 1925 and 1938 were reproduced and published as books. [10]
The Justice Party, officially the South Indian Liberal Federation, was a political party in the Madras Presidency of British India. It was established on 20 November 1916 in Victoria Memorial Hall in Madras by Dr C. Natesa Mudaliar and co-founded by T. M. Nair and P. Theagaraya Chetty as a result of a series of non-Brahmin conferences and meetings in the presidency. Communal division between Brahmins and non-Brahmins began in the presidency during the late-19th and early-20th century, mainly due to caste prejudices and disproportionate Brahminical representation in government jobs. The Justice Party's foundation marked the culmination of several efforts to establish an organisation to represent the non-Brahmins in Madras and is seen as the start of the Dravidian Movement.
Dravidar Kazhagam is a social movement founded by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, also called Thanthai Periyar. 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" from the Madras Presidency. Dravidar Kazhagam would in turn give birth to many other political parties including Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and later the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai, also known as Arignar Anna, was an Indian politician who served as the fifth and last Chief Minister of Madras State from 1967 until 1969 and first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for 20 days before his death. He was the first member of a Dravidian party to hold either post.
The Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu were a series of agitations that happened in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu during both pre- and post-Independence periods. The agitations involved several mass protests, riots, student and political movements in Tamil Nadu concerning the official status of Hindi in the state.
Dravida Nadu is the name of a hypothetical "sovereign state" demanded by Justice Party led by E. V. Ramasamy and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led by C. N. Annadurai for the speakers of the Dravidian languages in South India.
Thamizhavel Go. Sarangapani, or Kosa as he was also known, a Tamil writer and publisher, was born in Thiruvarur, Tamil Nadu, on 20 April 1903. He received a good education and was effectively bi-lingual in Tamil and English. At 21, he went to Singapore to work as a bookkeeper, eventually becoming the manager at his firm.
P. Jeevanandham also called Jeeva, was a social reformer, political leader, litterateur and one of the pioneers of the Communist and socialist movements in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.
Dravidian parties include an array of regional political parties in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, which trace their origins and ideologies either directly or indirectly to the Dravidian movement of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. The Dravidian movement was based on the linguistic divide in India, where most of the Northern Indian, Eastern Indian and Western Indian languages are classified as Indo-Aryan, whereas the South Indian languages are classified as Dravidian. Dravidian politics has developed by associating itself to the Dravidian community. The original goal of Dravidian politics was to achieve social equality, but it later championed the cause of ending the domination of North India over the politics and economy of the South Indian province known as Madras Presidency.
Erode Venkatappa Krishnasamy Sampath(c. 5 March 1926 – 23 February 1977), usually referred to as E. V. K. Sampath was a prominent politician from Tamil Nadu, India. He was an advocate of the Dravidian Movement of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and was considered by some as his political heir. He later split from Periyar's Dravidar Kazhagam to form Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) along with C. N. Annadurai. In spite of being one of the founders of DMK he later left and formed his own party, by the name, Tamil National party. Nevertheless, he later merged his party with the Indian National Congress. He is a former Member of Parliament from the constituency of Namakkal
Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy, commonly known as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'Father of the Dravidian movement'. He rebelled against Brahminical dominance and gender and caste inequality in Tamil Nadu.
The religious views of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy resulted in him being considered the Voltaire of South India. Both opposed religion virulently because, in their views, the so-called men of religion invented myths and superstitions to keep the innocent and ignorant people in darkness and to go on exploiting them. Periyar has been a harsh critic of the Aryan influenced Hinduism in Tamil Nadu, more than the faiths of Islam, Buddhism and Christianity. He has spoken appreciatively of these other faiths in India finding in their ethics principles of equality and justice, thus advocating them if they can prove an alternative to Brahamanic Hinduism. With regards to institutionalized religion being used for personal gain, Periyar stated that "religion goes hand in hand with superstition and fear. Religion prevents progress and suppresses man. Religion exploits the suppressed classes." As religions, however, they are prone to be hit by accusation of superstition, exploitation and irrationalism.
Rao Bahadur Namasivayam Sivaraj was an Indian lawyer, politician and Scheduled Caste activist from the state of Tamil Nadu.
The second legislative assembly election for the Madras Presidency after the establishment of a bicameral legislature by the Government of India Act of 1935 was held in 1946. The election was held after 6 years of Governor's rule starting from 1939, when the Indian National Congress government of C. Rajagopalachari resigned protesting Indian involvement in World War II. This was the last election held in the presidency - after Indian independence in 1947, the presidency became the Madras state. The election was held simultaneously with that of the Legislative Council. The Congress swept the polls by winning 163 out of 215 seats. The years after this election saw factionalism in Madras Congress party with divisions across regional and communal lines. Competition among T. Prakasam, C. Rajagopalachari and K. Kamaraj resulted in the election of Prakasam as the Chief Minister initially. But he was later defeated by Omandur Ramaswamy Reddiar with Kamaraj's support. In turn, Reddiar himself was ousted to make way for P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja with the support of Kamaraj.
The second legislative council election for the Madras Presidency after the establishment of a bicameral legislature by the Government of India Act of 1935 was held in March 1946. The election was held after 6 years of Governor's rule starting from 1939, when the Indian National Congress government of C. Rajagopalachari resigned protesting Indian involvement in World War II. This was the last direct election held for the Madras Legislative Council in the presidency - after Indian independence in 1947, the presidency became the Madras state and direct elections to the council were abolished. The election was held simultaneously with that of the Legislative Assembly. The Congress swept the polls by winning 32 out of 46 seats. The years after this election saw factionalism in Madras Congress party with divisions across regional and communal lines. Competition among T. Prakasam, C. Rajagopalachari and K. Kamaraj resulted in the election of Prakasam as the Chief Minister initially. But he was later defeated by Omandur Ramaswamy Reddiar with Kamaraj's support. In turn, Reddiar himself was ousted to make way for P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja with the support of Kamaraj.
The Anti-Hindi imposition agitation of 1937–40 is a series of protests that happened in Madras Presidency of the British Raj during 1937-40. It was launched in 1937 in opposition to the introduction of compulsory teaching of Hindi in the schools of the presidency by the Indian National Congress government led by C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji). This move was immediately opposed by E. V. Ramasamy (Periyar) and the opposition Justice Party. The agitation, which lasted three years, was multifaceted and involved fasts, conferences, marches, picketing and protests. The government responded with a crackdown resulting in the death of two protesters and the arrest of 1,198 persons including women and children. The mandatory Hindi education was later withdrawn by the British Governor of Madras Lord Erskine in February 1940 after the resignation of the Congress government in 1939.
The Self-Respect Movement is a South Asian movement with the aim of achieving a society where backward castes have equal human rights, and encouraging backward castes to have self-respect in the context of a caste-based society that considered them to be a lower end of the hierarchy. It was founded in 1925 by S. Ramanathan who invited E. V. Ramasamy to head the movement in Tamil Nadu, India against Brahminism. The movement was extremely influential not just in Tamil Nadu, but also overseas in countries with large Tamil populations, such as Malaysia and Singapore. Among Singapore Indians, groups like the Tamil Reform Association, and leaders such as Thamizhavel G. Sarangapani were prominent in promoting the principles of the Self-Respect Movement among the local Tamil population through schools and publications.
Why I am an Atheist is an essay written by Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in 1930 in Lahore Central Jail. The essay was a reply to his religious friends who thought Bhagat Singh became an atheist because of his vanity.
Annihilation of Caste is an undelivered speech written in 1936 by B. R. Ambedkar. B.R. Ambedkar (1891-1956). He wrote The Annihilation of Caste for the 1936 meeting of a group of liberal Hindu caste-reformers in Lahore. After reviewing the speech, conference organizers revoked Ambedkar's invitation. He then self-published the work, which became an immediate classic.
Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy Nagammai was an Indian social activist and women's rights activist. She was known for her participation in the Temperance movement in India and the Vaikom Satyagraha. She was the first wife of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy who headed the Self-Respect Movement.
S. Ramanathan was an Indian politician who served as the minister of Madras Presidency in the Congress-led government of 1937. He was the founder of the Self-Respect Movement.