Vol. 5 Special Issue 2 November 2017 ISSN: 2321-788X SOCIAL REFORMS OF JUSTICE PARTY IN MADRAS PRESIDENCY N.Anitha Assistant Professor of History V.V.Vanniaperumal College for Women, Virudhunagar Introduction The Justice Party officially the South Indian Liberal Federation was a political party in the Madras Presidency of British India. It was established in 1917 by T.M Nair & P. Theagaraya Chetty as a result of a series of non-Brahim conferences and meetings in the Presidency. Communal Division between Brahmins and non Brahmins began in the Presidency during the later 19 th and early 20 th 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 organization to represent the non - Brahmins in Madras. The Struggle for social justice in Tamil Nadu started as a continuation of the political social movements that took place in India owing to the impact of western political thoughts and growth of English Education. As a prelude to the social awakening the rise and growth of political consciousness worked a s a contributory factor. The introduction of western education judicial system and administrative reorganization paved the way for the rise of a new middle class. The Indian National Congress Founded in 1855, the regional faction in Madras was known as the Madras Presidency Congress. In 1921 it was trifurcated to reconstitute the Madras, Andhra and Kerala Congress Committees Madras in the Present context stands for the whole contemporary state of Tamil Nadu and not the Madras City alone. Therefore “Madras” in the title for the Present paper covers not only the metropolis Madras but also the entire Madras state if not the Madras Presidency. At the National level several distinguished leaders such as Vijayaraghavachariyar of Salem S. Srinivasa Iyengar and K.Kamaraj served as Presidents during different periods of time. The congress committee of the Madras circle was led by leaders of standing such as C.Rajagopalachariyar (Rajaji) C.Satyamurti and Thiru V.Kalyansundaranar and K. Kamarajar Justice Party The Justice Party (Tamil, ‘Nitik Katchi’) known in Tamil as “Ten Intiya Makkal Nala Urimai Kalakam” (South Indian Peoples Good rights Union) was founded in 1919. The founding fathers were justice C.Singara Nayar. Dr.T.M.Nagayar, Sir.P.Thiyagaraja Chettiyar, Dr.A.Natesa Mutaliyar and a host of others. The formation of the party was mainly striggered by the neglect of south Indian affairs in the National Congress that was dominated by the Brahmans. In order to claim their legitimate share at the national front the aims of the Justice party were laid down as follow: 1. Upliftment of the educational, social and economic status of the non - brahmanas. 2. To represent the grievances of the non - brahmanas to the government. 3. T rejuvenate the status and spirit of the non - brahmanas in the society. To begin with it was like a “Humble Petition” that turned out to be the charter of demands in course of time. They had a fight and go a long way a realize these goals because the British Government misguided by the brahmanas officers not independent India headed by the Brahmanas would not yield to the pressure of the non-brahmanas hat easily. The effort was directed to get the legitimate share of the majority Dravidians vis-a- vis the minority Brahmana - Anjans. Shanlax International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities 1 Vol. 5 Special Issue 2 November 2017 ISSN: 2321-788X The Jusitce party to begin with started few news papers to propagate their ideals. These are “Justice” in English edited by T.M. Nayar and Tiravitan (Dravida) edited by Bhaktavatsalam Pillai. Another Journal in Telugu came out that was “Andhra Prakasika. It would appear from the caste designations of the leaders of the Justice party, they were high caste non brahmanas e.g Mudaliyar, Chettiyar Pillai, Nayar, Nayakkar and so on. It was the beginning of the end. It turned out to be an organ voice of the caste non brahmanas and not the SCs and STs that were later called Dalits. Census Reports of the 1960s say though the Justice party was started with enthusiasm it was not ‘thoroughly reactionary’ Professor K.A Nilakanta Sastri of the University of Madras was of the opinion the justice party was founded to minimize the influence of the brahmanas in society and the Government. It was quote natural because he himself was a brahmana. In those times brahmanas were professors in University services and brahmana Students were “given” first class university examinations. When “Power” passed on to the hands of Dalit IAS officers they reversed the table on the wrong side by appointing unqualified and under serving candidates in Government College as Principals. This ugly turn ruined not only standard in education but also efficient administration. Montague -Chemford The Montague-chemford reforms were implemented in 1919. The renascent Justice Party demanded the reservation of 70% of the constituencies for non brahmanas. The reservation meance began with this. This is to suggest: i) The British Government was not far -sighted ii) The British Government must have listened to the advice is brahamana officers at the ICS level, they were also imbecile. The alien rulers did not known anything about reservation (e.g the Untied-States) and granted 50 far the non-brahmanas. The Justice party wisely said it was the scheme of the brahmanas and Governor was nick- named Lord Wellington -Brahmana. Something was better than nothing 50% was indeed a major achievement for the nascent political party. In the general elections the justice party was defeated during the 1920s. This shows brahmanical influences with the mass was over domineering. The nationalist Justice party was branded anti - nationalist. Economic side of Madras Government On the economic side the Madras Government undertook many steps for the upliftment of the untouchables. 1. It provided house- sites for the relief of congestion and for freeing them from the duchess of landlords. 2. It created co–operative organizations which looked after the smooth running of the various co- operative societies for depressed classes. 3. It repaired the old wells constructed new wells, allotted burial grounds and fulfilled the sanitary requirements for them. 4. It assigned land for cultivation to the depressed people by means of reservation and by free allotment. The cost of assignment of lands was recovered by easy installments and. 5. It granted agricultural loans flood relief measures and rural credit. As a matter of fact in 1920 there were over 14,600 members of depressed people in about 10 Co -operative societies. In 1931 there were only six districts in Madras state which were untouched by the activities of the Commissioner of labour. Social Organizations Social organizations and societies too came into being for their upliftment. Among those the notable were servants of untouchable society. Servants of India, the Danish Mission, The Arcot Mission, Roman Catholic Mission, SPG Mission, The Lutheran Mission, Panrutti Mission,The salvation Army Society, The Depressed Class Union, The Poor School Society, the Madras Social Service league the Madras depressed classes Shanlax International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities 2 Vol. 5 Special Issue 2 November 2017 ISSN: 2321-788X federation and Nandanar Kalvi Kazhagan. The Madras Government, endorsing the resolution of All -India Conference of Depressed classes in 1930 passed an Act which enable all classes irrespective of caste or creed to have access and to all public places such as streets, markets and water reservoirs maintained from Municipal funds and penalised any obstruction to their use. Equal Rights for Women The liberation of women from the thraldom of cruel customs and traditions formed one of the declared principles of the justice party and its ministry. It championed the cause of Women and fought at first for their enfranchisement. The Justice Ministry was also congratulated for its liberal policy towards women by passing a resolution enabling them to stand as candidates for election. In the election held in 1926 in the Madras State for the legislative council. Mrs. Kamaladevi Chathapadhyaya and Mrs. Hannan Anglo were the first women candidates to contest. Unfortunately neither of them could win. In recognizing the clam of women demonstration in that election, the Ministry nominated S. Muthulakshmi Reddi from a list of twelve prominent woman. In 1928 she was unanimously selected by her follow members as the first women Deputy President of the Madras Council. Thus the Ministry led the way in every movement for the recognition of women’s claim for equal Civic right, It was the first go give women the franchise and the right to contest the elections. First to allow a woman member to enter legislature and the first to make a Women deputy President of any legislature in India. Prevention of Child Marriages The Ministry worked relentlessly in Tamil Nadu for the shaping of public opinion against early child marriages. It demanded that a more effective step should be taken to eradicate the evil of early consummation for which the Prevention of early marriages come to the regarded as a proper remedy. As a major social evil child marriage mostly spread among the caste Hindu families. Therefore the Justice Ministry to show its loyalty adopted the resolution of S.Muthulakshmi Reddi without dissent, on 27 March 1928. It stated that the Minimum age of marriage for girls should be fixed at 16 and boys at 21. When S. Muthulakshmi Reddi the Deputy President of the Council asked for sanction for the introduction of a bill in the council as a measure prohibiting child marriage in the madras Presidency.