Drumbeating Dravidianism

The north and south India was seen in terms of Aryan and Dravidian divide in the past. The white and black colour distinction separated the two major regions of the Indian subcontinent. E.V. Ramaswamy Naickar who was affectionately called as Periyar set the tone and tenor of the louder Dravidian philosophy. Although Periyar’s main battle was not against the north Indians, his opposition was towards the rituals, superstitions and the Brahmins. The pain of the people who encountered social ostracism because of their caste, gender, age, class, and other sociological factors troubled Periyar from his childhood. He tried to convey his anger through few mischiefs played against the ritual and superstition practicing folks. Periyar’s father thrown him out of home for insulting Brahmin priests.

Despite Periyar being an adult and a married man, he had to face the worst wrath of his father. After his father’s death, Periyar practiced his rational philosophy fully. His open outbursts against the upper caste Brahmins and ritualism gained support among the people who underwent extreme social pain due to casteism. This encouraged him to go full steam against the Brahmins and many times openly provoking their anger. After the independence his self respect movement took a political turn and become Dravida Kazhagam (DK). There was no limit to the insults heaped on the Brahmins by the DK activists. In one way it brought down the superiority complex of the Brahmins and in the long run the Periyar legacy eliminated the domination of Brahmins in the socio-political structure of the state.

With C.N. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi in the frontline of the DK along with Periyar, the politics of Draviidanism took the prime spot in Tamil Nadu. Electorally they were insignificant till the formation of a splinter group by Annadurai later. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was formed on 17 September 1949 after Periyar decided to pass the Presidentship of DK to his second wife who was half of his age. The frustrated senior leaders of DK like Annadurai pointed towards the immoral act of old man marrying a young woman as the reason for the formation of DMK. Actually bypassing of senior leaders and handing the party mantle to a younger woman was the cause behind the inner party political eruption.

Periyar was unmoved by this act and declared openly that to run the party from the background he needed a confident person. Who else other than his wife fit this criterion as a confident keeper? Infuriated by Periyar’s game of making the political empire as personal and family centric, DMK was born. The new political outfit was full of young firebrands and promised to capture the centre stage of the Tamil Nadu politics. To take on the mighty Congress which is a pan Indian party, DMK devised suitable strategies. They were looking for politically sensitive issues to whip up the people’s passions. Of course caste, religion and language came handy to them.

Periyar abused Tamil language, Thirukural, Indian independence along with Brahmins in the early days. He was in love with English and Britishers. He opposed the freedom of the nation and wanted to build a coalition with Jinnah and Ambedkar to split the newly independent India.

To challenge the political dominance of the northern leaders, penetration of Hindi as the national language and the explicit control of the power structure by the Brahmins, the DMK kick-started a red hot debate in the fifties. They used every innovative method in a very artistic way to convey their philosophy to the common masses. Art, drama, poetry, cinema, public meetings, and debates of the Dravidian movement conveyed their ideology in a catchy way. Amidst the dance, drama, debate propaganda unleashed by DMK, Periyar was reduced to a showpiece. The real attention turned towards the party which was spitted from the famous Periyar when it captured the Saint George Fort to rule Tamil Nadu. DMK’s systematic propaganda against Hindi, upper castes and high command politics of Congress made it popular. Annadurai started his Chief Ministerial career with a lot of promises in 1967. People expected revolutionary changes in the state. First the name was changed from Madras presidency to Tamil Nadu. But soon the steam was lost. The death of Anna after two years of Chief minsitership took away the promises. M. Karunanidhi managed to become the successor of Anna. Soon violence, personal abuses, corruption and nepotism took the important places in the state politics. He married four times when his previous wives were alive. Legally this is a crime. But his power politics prevented both the judicial system or public interest individuals from taking up the matter. The issue with which the DMK was born – extra wife was again reenacted by the third hero of the Dravidian party.

Thick and think Karunanidhi’s family was controlling the party indirectly. Slowly he eliminated the rival power centers in DMK. Whenever there is a political fortune he decided to throw his ideology to winds. The DMK aligned with Congress in 1981 and again in 2004. It joined hands with the Hindutva party in 2001 parliamentary elections. Sons, daughters, nephews, nieces, grand sons, grand nephews of Karunanidhi occupy the first slots of the party. The family members of Karunanidhi supersede the party veterans who life and blood for the DMK’s growth. The louder noise of the Dravidian movement vis a vis DMK is flawed in many fronts. The following can be some among those many hypocrisies.
1. Periyar abused Tamil and Thirukural.
2. He opposed the freedom of the country and supported the British.
3. An alliance with Jinnah and Ambedkar to split the country was in the minds of Periyar
4. DMK was formed after disputing Periyar’s second marriage and passing of the DK presidentship to his new wife
5. Karunanidhi got four wives
6. His family members control the party
7. Kith and kin of Karunanidhi study Hindi as the second language
8. His grand nephew Dayanidhi Maran as a union minister took pride in speaking in Hindi
9. They washed the feet of Satya Sai Baba’s feet and participated in Mata Amritamayee spiritual programmes
10. DMK switched alliances for political opportunism. Ideology was never followed.

The history of the Dravidian movement (DK & DMK) speaks volume about its double standards. Their ideology is long dead and only opportunism is alive and kicking. Fortunately people ignore their hypocrisies and gave them electoral support. Otherwise no one will remember the Dravidian movement. To counter the hype creators, Tamil Nadu needs suitable political opponents. Otherwise they will be thriving on the dead issues of Aryans vs Dravidians, North Indian domination, Hindi etc. These issues should not be the masks for the Dravidian underperformance in the governance.