Dravidian movement the is the political child of Tamil Nadu.Over the years there has been a clear distinction of the politics played in north India and south India. Some say it is because of the ignorance of the powerful people who sit in the center.
They have very different political ideas and cultural ideas. The dominant political idea that pervades in south India [Especially in Tamil Nadu] is Dravidian politics.
Let’s take a deep look into their ideology and where on the political spectrum they lie. Above all we will look at some of their influential leaders and the policies they believe in.
Table of Contents
- The Founder of The Dravidian Movement
- Ideology of Dravidian Politics
- Freedom Struggle
- The Idea of Dravida Nadu
- LTTE
- Conclusion
- FAQ on Dravidian Movement
The Founder of The Dravidian Movement
Before we talk about the founder of the Dravidian movement, we must talk about their foundation. South India Liberal Force aka Justice Party laid the ideological foundation of the Dravidian movement. Some Telugu Landlords joined their hands to form the Party and their aim was anti Brahmanism.
The Justice party members fought against the learned Brahmins who had occupied every possible job position and thus gained political power.
They held them responsible for the subjugation of lower castes [I personally think that caste system is a cancer to our society because it has caused the oppression of SC.].
They certainly were pro-British and denounced the congress for being a party led by Brahmins.
Soon a leader arose among them named EV Ramaswamy, who is now popularly called Periyar. He later formed a political party named Dravidar Kazhagam.
His political successors include Annadurai and Karunanidhi. So Periyar is the most influential figure in Dravidian Movement.
Periyar wrote:
The day when Gandhi said God alone guides him, that Varnashramadharma is superior system fit to govern the affairs of the world and that everything happening according to God’s will, we came to the conclusion that there is no difference between Gandhism and Brahminism. We also concluded unless the Congress party that subscribes to such philosophy and principle is abolished it will not be good to the country. But now this fact has been found out at least by some of the people. They have gained wisdom and courage to call for the downfall of Gandhism. This is a great victory to our cause.
Ideology of Dravidian Politics
The followers of the Dravidian movement believe that the true residents of India are Dravidians and that Aryans invaded India [The so called the aryan invasion theory].
They believe that Brahmins are Aryans and they refuse to follow them.
They propagate the so called Dravidian culture. Periyar also fought for women rights.Yet he married a young lady at the age of 72 when she was 31. In fact Dravidian politicians preferred British rule rather than being a part of India managed by Hindus.
That is why many modern scholars accuse him of supporting the divide and rule policy of the Britishers.
They Openly opposed Hindi and led the anti-Hindi agitation when C Rajagopalachari imposed Hindi in the state of madras. It is quite interesting to observe that they are ready to learn a foreign language like English but oppose Hindi.
Dravidian politics supporters oppose the Hindus so much that they has planed to cut the Ram Setu [which is sacred to Hindus] in the name of Development. Rajnikanth accused Periyar of insulting Lord Ramchandra.
Freedom Struggle
Dravidians were not supporting Mahatma Gandhi for his freedom struggle. He was pro-British. They tried everything they could do to either form their own state or be under British rule. In 1927 Periyar commented about his meeting with Gandhi as follows:
“My friend Ramanathan and I told the Mahatma (when we met him) that three tasks had to be completed for India attaining independence and self-respect. The first would be the destruction of the Congress party, the second the destruction of Hindu religion and the third the destruction of the domination of Brahmins. The third would automatically happen when the first two tasks were completed. Gandhi’s response was not to our satisfaction.”
Periyar stated that 15th August is a very sad day, as on this day the power went to the Aryans. Hence periyar declared 15th August a mourning day.
The Idea of Dravida Nadu
Periyar once said:
“I went and told the British that it was not British honesty to hand over the power to them while we are the ones who have always supported you. The British smiled and said that they now knew only Hindu-Muslim difference and not Brahmin non-Brahmin difference. Then I went and saw Jinnah and asked for his help. He said that your bed (plan) looks good but it lacks the legs to stand on. And he told that only I had to look after my problem. The media wrote that Jinnah had tar-brushed the face of EVR.”
They believed that the modern-day Tamil Nadu should be independent from India and It should be named Dravida Nadu. Moreover Dravidian culture should pervade there. To gain support for this Periyar even met Jinnah who refused to help him.
Ambedkar too refused to help him and told him that his idea was illogical.
Even today some politicians support Tamil Nadu being a sovereign sate. There Terrorist organizations who support the Dravidian movement via violence
LTTE
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a militant organization that believed in the idea of creating a sovereign state for the Tamilians situated in Sri Lanka.
It was founded by Velupillai Prabhakaran in 1976. They used suicide attacks in public places and on eminent politicians.
They came under large criticism when they took responsibility of the assassination of Indian Ex-prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa.
A civil war broke out between them and the Sri Lankan government and around 80,000 people lost their lives.
The war finally ended when Prabhakaran was killed in 2009. Senior Dravidian leaders blatantly supported them. It includes MG Ramchandra [ex chief minister of Tamil Nadu] and Vaiko [member of Rajya Sabha]
Conclusion
M Karunanidhi’s family dominates the Dravidian politics now. They own major television channels like the sun tv. A Raja of the DMK is the main accused in the 2G case with Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi.
Now DMK is led by MK Stalin Karunanidhi’s son [He is named Stalin as he was born 4 days after the death of Joseph Stalin].
DMK is a left leaning party. A peculiar political tool that politicians use to gather vote bank is rice politics.
Politicians subsidies rice prices which is a staple food in south India. It was started by Annadurai who was the founder of DMK.
Karunanidhi has been accused of nepotism by various political parties in India. His grandnephew Kalanithi Maran Is worth more than 2 billion dollars is one the richest persons in India. He is the owner of sun tv.
The honorable Madras high court slammed Kalanithi and his younger brother Dayanidhi Maran in the illegal BSNL telephone exchange case.
The court ordered a special court to lead the charges against him. The Enforcement Directorate attached their assets worth 742 Cr rupees.
It seems that when they were in power these Dravidian politicians collected wealth but as soon as they lose power, they talk about the great Dravidian ideology.
Heard about Hindutva? Its another Indian political ideology: Learn more
FAQ on Dravidian Movement
DMK is in the opposition in the Tamil Nadu parliament
The Dravidian Movement is still quiet active in Sri Lanka. The Dravidian forces also act from USA too.
I personally believe that the problem with their ideology is that there is no proof of the Aryan invasion theory on around which the Dravidian ideology revolves
DMK was the only party to officially oppose emergency and hence Indira Gandhi dismissed the assembly in Tamil Nadu.
Well, it is said that there were serious ties between DMK and LTTE. Further, the interim report of Justice Jain Commission, which oversaw the investigation into Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, indicted Karunanidhi for abetting the LTTE. However the final report did not make such accusation
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