Why legacy of Periyar is still relevant | India News

Burning of Rama portraits took place in 1956, and continued even after 1971.It is more than 46 years since the passing of Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy, later known as EVR and Periyar, yet he continues to dominate Tamil Nadu’s political space.The controversy stoked by actor Rajinikanth’s recent reference to the 1971 anti-superstition conference in Salem by the Periyar-led Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) has not died even after a fortnight. Now, some AIADMK ministers have entered the fray asking Rajinikanth to tender an apology for trying to discredit Periyar. medium73726246boxcontentHow Periyar came into the spotlightDravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam founder Periyar EV Ramasamy may have died in 1973, but he has got embroiled in a fresh political controversy thanks to southern superstar Rajinikanth. On January 14, the actor-politician referred to a rally conducted by Periyar in 1971 at which, he said, idols of Lord Rama and Sita were paraded without clothes and garlanded with sandals. He even showed clippings from magazines and newspapers to corroborate the same. Periyar's outfit demanded an apology from Rajinikanth for his comment. The actor, however, asserted, that he will neither apologise nor express regret since his remarks were based on fact. Such has been the extent of Periyar’s dominance that any party that claims to have a Dravidian tag has to defend him, even while distancing itself from an indefensible act like the burning of Rama’s portrait. While Dravidian parties concede that it was morally wrong to burn images or portraits of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana as Periyar and his supporters sought to do right from the 1950s, they want to be politically correct to be seen as Periyar supporters, since he founded the Dravidian, social reform movement and enabled the DMK and the AIADMK to come to power.Periyar’s diatribe against brahmins could have resulted in the movement towards a casteless society going off on a tangent, but he had a creditable record of having fought for women’s rights, including the right to property, widow marriage, self-respect and inter-caste marriages, rights for entry of dalits, Tamil archakas and Tamil mantras in temples, reservation in educational institutions and government jobs. As Periyarists would like to say, let us not throw out the baby with the dish water.boxcontent medium nocaption73726563Periyar's ideas and beliefsPeriyar believed communism and secular ideas from Tamil poet-philosopher Thiruvalluvar's Thirukkural, a classic in Tamil literature, would guide the world towards prosperity.He fought for women's rights and self-respect in marriage. He said the concept of marriage was introduced in ancient times to make a woman slave to a man. If marriage had to take place, he called for it to be simple, ideally a registered wedding.He led agitations against the caste system, He fought for the rights of dalits to enter Hindu temples. In 1970, Tamil Nadu became the first state to have a legislation that people of all castes could become temple priests.He demanded 50% reservation for non-brahmins in government jobs and educational institutions. Tamil Nadu began reservation of jobs for non-brahmins from 1927-28, and this was extended to 50% of backward classes by the Congress, DMK and AIADMK govts in a phased mannerWhat is surprising, however, is the lack of awareness about Periyar and DK’s acts of burning portraits or effigies of the Hindu gods. The 1971 Salem incident was not the first nor was it the last. While some rationalists, seen as Periyarists, have sounded almost defensive on the issue, Periyar himself had made no bones about it. The act of burning Rama pictures by Periyar was to celebrate Ravana Leela to counter the Ram Leela in Delhi during the Dussehra festival, his argument being that Ramayana sought to perpetuate the Aryan domination over Dravidian ‘sudran’, Ravana of Tamil origin. medium nocaption73727068Earlier, in 1953, Periyar organised agitations for the desecration of Ganesha idols. He had said in a speech in 1953, “We have to eradicate the gods who are responsible for the institution which portrays us as sudras, people of low birth, and some others as brahmins of high birth... We have to break the idols of these gods. I start with Ganesha because it is he who is worshipped before undertaking any task.” In 1956, Periyar publicly announced an agitation to burn pictures of Rama on the Marina beach. Paula Richman, in ‘The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia’ (Chapter 9: E V Ramasami’s Reading of the Ramayana) described in detail the events leading up to the burning of Rama’s pictures.“On the first day of August in 1956, E V Ramasami (henceforth EVR) set out for the Madras Marina to lead his followers in burning pictures of Lord Rama, hero of the Ramayana. This symbolic action would represent a reversal of the culmination of north Indian performances of the Ramayana, in which images of the epic’s villain, Ravana, are put to the flames as spectators watch in delight.” The account goes on to detail how political leaders implored Periyar to cancel the event so as not to offend orthodox Hindu Tamils, but Periyar remained unmoved, noting that “there was bound to be a difference of views regarding any measure aimed at bringing social reform”. On the following day, the deputy commissioner of police arrested Periyar when he was stepped out of his house to head to Marina. Periyar seemed prepared for this eventuality, in addition to the picture of Rama and a box of matches, he was carrying a bedroll to spread on the hard prison floor. medium nocaption73727093In 1971, Ravana Leela was a fixture at the Salem conference. This was published in detail by the DK daily, ‘Viduthalai’, which was not only unapologetic, but also hailed the burning as a celebration by more than two lakh Tamils assembled there. After his death, Maniyammai, who took over the DK leadership, and her associates, were arrested for burning effigies of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana to re-enact the Ravana Leela at the DK headquarters, Periyar Thidal, in 1974.In an article on Periyar, Cho Ramaswamy had said, “There was no shade of hypocrisy in him (Periyar) and he never attempted sophistry while propounding his social philosophy.” The former Tughlak editor added that though EVR is still hailed as one of the leaders of the Tamil people, his philosophy is hardly valued. He fought superstitions, but his followers in the AIADMK tonsured their heads for the good health of their former leader J Jayalalithaa; he cursed the caste, now offshoots of his movement — the DMK and the AIADMK — are using caste politics to fight elections, and more caste-based parties have come up in Tamil Nadu; he was the apostle of secession, but his followers swear allegiance to national integration. Cho aptly surmised the idea of the man, saying, “Periyar the singer was admired, his song was ignored. As a man Periyar was the embodiment of civility, which is why he is still loved. The man was greater than his message.” That’s something that is ought to be remembered now.(The writer is a veteran journalist)Untitled Carousel 73531010