AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808

SELF RESPECT MOVEMENT UNDER PERIYAR

M. Nala Assistant Professor of History Sri Sarada College for Women (Autonomous), Salem- 16

Self Respect Movement represented the Dravidian reaction against the Aryan domination in the Southern Society. It also armed at liberating the society from the evils of religious, customs and caste system. They tried to give equal status to the downtrodden and give the social dignity, Self Respect Movement was directed by the Dravidian communities against the Brahmanas. The movement wanted a new cultural society more based on reason rather than tradition. It aimed at giving respect to the instead of to a Brahmin. By the 19th Century Tamil renaissance gained strength because of the new interest in the study of the classical culture. The European scholars like Caldwell Beschi and Pope took a leading part in promoting this trend. C.V. Meenakshi Sundaram and Swaminatha Iyer through their wirtings and discourse contributed to the ancient glory of the Tamil. The resourceful poem of Bharathidasan, a disciple of Subramania Bharati noted for their style, beauty and force.

C.N. Annadurai popularized a prose style noted for its symphony. These scholars did much revolutionise the thinking of the people and liberate Tamil language from brahminical influence. Thus they tried resist alien influence especially Aryan Sanskrit and to create a new order. The chief grievance of the Dravidian communities was their failure to obtain a fair share in the administration. Among then only the caste Hindus received education in the schools and colleges, founded by the British and the Christian missionaries many became servants of the Government, of these many were Brahmins. As a result other educated people in different communities entertained bitter feelings against the Brahmins that they were standing in the way of their progress.

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The Anti-brahmin movement was led by E.V.Ramasami Naicker (1879- 1973) belonged to Erode, hailing from the Naicker community of Kannada descent. He turned his attention towards the untouchable. He was eager to find an explanation for their miserable condition. Hence he bagan to study all religious text. He was dissatisfied with the works because of their inconsistencies. Even sages and saints failed to satisfy his eagerness. Later he decided to work on his own for the freedom and welfare of the society and eradication of untouchability.

He joined the Congress Party and worked among the common people and led the Non-cooperation Movement in 1920. In 1922 was elected president of the Tamil Nadu Congress committee. He found the party not suited to his way of thinking and ideals. The leadership of the party was not much linked with the common society. Further his identification with the struggle for social justice was viewed with suspicion.

In Kerala the Ezhavas and other untouchable were forbidden for worshipping in the temples and entering the public streets. These people were determined to assert their rights and the consequence was the 1924 Satyagraha at Vaikom. When Naicker heard about the harassment of these people, he hurried to their place and courted arrest. His wife Nagammai also joined the movement. The struggle continued till the government of Travancore (a state then) yielded and opened the temple road to all unrespective of caste or creed.

E.V. Ramasamy equally attacked V.V.S. Iyer and Sermadevi Gurukulam Ashram which was supported by Congress Party with funds. There was communal discrimination. He also disagreed with Mahatma Gandhi who also stood for the untouchable and temple entry. He brought a resolution in the party for providing equal opportunity for education and employment for the depressed communities but it got defeated, by the pro Brahmin grouped healed by T.V.

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Kalyanasundara Mudaliar, protesting against this defeat Naicker left the Congress Party.

In 1925 Naicker started the Self Respect Movement. The basis of this was rational thinking self respect, self confidence and to enable the people to enjoy political and social freedom. No religion but reason. It also aimed at infusing a sense of dignity among the people of the Dravidians. Hence he began attacking and destroying the existing cultural heritage. He aimed at the destruction of the time old of caste, religion, zamindari and princely order. He wanted to eradicate untouchability, inequality distractions based on status and sex, Aryan domination and Hindi imperialism implantation his other aims were inter communal after self respect marriage with no priest or ritual and also liberation.

No doubt for his new views and revolutions he suffered pubble attacks and also imprisonments. Still his conviction was unshakable. The following are the focal themes in the Social Revolution study of the Self-Respect Movement.

Concept of the Self-Respect Movement and its growth:

From the beginning of its inception, the Self-respect Movement involved itself in creating totally a new society without making any efforts to reform the existing old ceremonial and traditional society. It considered that in their idea of creating a new social order, there is no place for any minor reforms. That is why Periyar compared the old social order with the well giving water through its fountains. Moreover, Periyar explained about the difference between reforms and total abolition and claimed that he is an abolitionist and not a reformist.

Mixing medicines in the water of the well or pumping out the entire water of the well is a work of reformation. But closing the well and digging a new well is a work of abolition. Periyar said that he claimed himself as an abolitionist only in this manner. Felting the need to remove the drawbacks in the society in the name of social reformation, the Self-Respect Movement

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undertook the task of removing or demolishing such drawbacks and obstacles prevailing in the society on the basis of god, religion, puranas and Ithihasas.

The principles, the Periyar Self-respect Movement undertook to campaign for the past 90 years, like rejection of god, rejection of caste, stringent in spending for marriages, opposition to the ambition of wearing more number of jewels, asserting women’s rights, demolition of temples, opposition to the mentality of earning more and more properties, have become the elements instigating the people to follow them. Periyar stood firmly in his attempts to get the society liberated from the heriditary and traditional grips and to make it a economically developed one.

The origin of the Self Respect Movement :

The Dravidian people were ill-treated in the name of religion, gods, vedas, sasthras, rites and rituals. The oppressed people had to face many attrocities from the upper caste people. To relieve them from such indignation and to cultivate a sense of self-respect, equality and fraternity among them, Periyar started this Self-respect Movement in the year 1925. Due to the domination of the Brahmins, the Dravidian people had to lead a life like a worm. The self-respect Movement started by Periyar to relieve our people from such indignation and ill treatment, was welcomed by the public and earned their appreciation. There is a vast difference between the self-respect the foreigners are having and our people are having. Their sense of equality is aimed only for their economic development . But our sense of self-respect and equality are aimed at various spheres of political, social, educational knowledge, profession, scientific and economic fields. The ambition of Periyar was that our people should form their lives on the basis of their development in the above spheres most suitable for human beings.

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Philosophy of the Self-Respect Movement

Self- respect is nothing but respecting one’s own knowledge and wisdom. Refusing to accept the ideas unsuitable for the common sense of the people is Self-respect. Accepting something merely for the reason that all those things find place in Vedas, Puranas, Ithihasas, told by rishis, followed by our ancestors and came generation after generation heriditarily, can not be considered as giving respect to ones’ own self thinking. Independent thinking and taking of decision is considered self-thinking and self-respect.

It is not because that all the decisions taken after self-thinking will always be correct. Though the ideas and decisions emanating from self-thinking may not be correct, if a man has got the power and boldness to think independently, he is considered as a person having Self-Respect.

One’s feeling of self giving respect to the self knowledge, ability to think and take decisions independantly is the power of Self-respect. Though the decisions taken and the principles followed are flawed, if the power of independant thinking and boldness is involved in those decisions and principles, they points out the talents and boldness inherent in the principle of self-respect.

Atheism is a part and parcel of the Self-respect philosophy.

“The man who created god is a fool,

The man who propagates the concept of god is a scoundrel

The man who worships god is a barbarian.”

Periyar inscribed strongly the concept of atheism in the philosophy of self-respect itself. As the concept of atheism has naturally taken place along with the self-respect movement, the concept of religion, sasthras, puranas, ithihasas and the practice of rites, rituals, celebrations, festivals were totally neglected by the followers of the self-respect movement.

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As the principles of self-respect movement have taken strong roots among both uneducated and educated people, they were helpful for the reformation of the existing organisations according to the needs of the society under the changed circumstances and to create new organisations. The Self- respect movement has thrown a challenge to the varnasrama dharma supporting the caste system of our Hindu society. The Self-respect movement not only aimed at destroying the prevailing caste differences in the society, but also aimed at the total abolition of the caste system itself.

Activities of the Self-Respect Movement

Periyar and other Self- respectors were saying that without demolishing the Varna Jathi System and the Hindu religion of the Brahmins, it is not possible to bring socialism or communism. They have also not considered that it can be done so easily drawing a time table. Periyar said that abolition of the caste system is such an herculean task like climbing a perpendicular mountain. Only through long term campaigns, protests, awakening programmes among the people, creating a sense of equality between men and women, intercaste marriages, community dining, creating sense of self-respect among the suppressed and oppressed sections of society, fighting for the rights of the downtrodden people, the aim of abolision of castes could be achieved. This can be done either by electing persons, having approved either fully or partially these programmes, to the legislatures or supporting the Government in which such reformist minded people are accommodated and encouraging them to enact laws for effecting socio and economic changes in the society. Having followed such of the strategies, the Self-respect Movement undertook the task of abolishing the caste system, as no other person has come forward to do this.

Periyar and the Self-respect Movement were always insisting to follow peaceful means to achieve their objective. Believing the power of love, affection, sympathy, empathy, non-violence, warless world, they created a sense

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of self-respect and awareness among the people through their rationalist campaigns and made them to fight in a peaceful manner to get their rights. Only because of this peaceful approach, the Self-respect Movement was praised by great men like Bernard Russel. Though Periyar has never mentioned the names of any great thinkers or reformists who have wieled influence on him, the principles of non-violence advocated by Ramalinga, Buddha and Bernard Russel were followed by him and the members of his movement.

Self-Respect Movement and rationalist ideals :

Periyar, who have become one of the great leaders of the Tamil Nadu Congress Party and who have served wholeheartedly for its development, got dejected when he found that party was only under the domination of certain forward communities like Brahmins, he left the Congress party in 1925, founded a social reform organisation in the name of the Self-respect Movement and undertook an extensive tour in all areas of the Madras Presidency with the help of his many friends. Abolition of the bigotry beliefs, demolition of the caste differences, abolishing the slavery of women and giving them property and all other rights including the right to get divorce, giving up the old and traditional rites and rituals unsuitable for the present age were some of the principles with which the Self-respect Movement started functioning.

There was no fundamental difference between the policies of the Self- respect Movement started by Periyar in the year 1925 and Justice Party started in the year 1926 with an aim to get equal status, equal rights and equal livelihood for all the people irrespective of the caste to which they belong. The main aim of both of these organisations was to create social justice in the society. It is true that some of the leaders of the Justice Party could not accept some of the principles like refusal of god, religious hatred the leaders of Self- respect Movement were following. But the leaders of both of these organisations didnot want them to stand divided due to the limited differenc of

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opinion among them. Moreover in order to withstand, to oppose and to thwart the serious attacks undertaken by their common foe i.e. Congress, it has become the necessity of the time for these two organisations to start to work together friendly.

State Conferences of Self-Respect Movement :

We can see in this that the Self-respect Movement started by Periyar was an organisation seeking equality among the people, having active programmes to promote the principles of equality. It proves that how much of the best working programmes the Self Respect Movement has given to create equality in the society. We can see that many of the revolutionary programmes introduced by the present day Government were introduced by Periyar a couple of decades earlier itself. If the resolutions passed in the Self respect Movement Conferences would have been actually implemented, the equality among the people could have been achieved long before.

A practice was in vogue in those days to conduct general conferences to bring directly to the notice of the public about the social and political principles. Periyar conducted many conferences with an aim to propagate the principles of socialism and equality. In all these self-respect conferences, resolutions were passed based on the principles of social thinking of equality of the self-respect Movement. Moreover, Labours’ Conference, Agriculturists’ Conference, Conference for abolition of Zamindari system, Conference for the abolition of lending system, Atheist Conference, Youths’ Conference, Students’ Conference, Social Conference, Socialist Conference were also organised and conducted by Periyar and resolutions based on the principles of self-respect and equality were passed in those conferences.

Finally, Periyar conducted a conference at Chennai on the 8th of December, 1973 for eradication of the inferior status accorded to Tamilians in which Periyar said that “if at all we have to live we have to live with self-

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respect, we should shed the inferiority status accorded on us or otherwise let us die.” Each and every conference became ceremonies of laying of foundation stone for the creation of new self-respect world. Subsequently, the Governments under the rule of Dravidian parties enacted several revolutionary acts such as Act recognizing the Self-Respect marriages, Act for giving property rights to the women children, Act of Two Language Formula etc.

References

1. Sami Chidamabaranar, Tamilzhar Talaivar, Prof. Dharmalingam, PSRPI, Periyar E.V.R. First Edition, 1975. 2. K. Veeramani, Self –Respect Marriage Philosophy, Dravidar Kazhagam Publication, 2012. 3. Kudi Arasu, 07 September, 1927 and 16 October 1927. 4. Kudi Arasu Editorial Columns, 01 May 1927. 5. Self Respect Movement Golden Jubilee Souvenir, Madras 1976. 6. K. Nambi Arroran, Tamil Renaissance ad Dravidian Nationalism.’ 7. V. Anaimuthu, Thoughts of Periayr E.V.R. Vol –I.

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