CHAPTER VII

E.V. RAMASAMY AND SELF RESPECT MOVEMENT

Self Respect movement was not a pre - planned one. It was

purely accidental. E.V.R’s activities during 1925 to 1929 would prove that

he adopted that line of action to sheer force of circumstances.1

Many of his colleagues including Rajaji wanted him to be in

the Congress and fight for the cause of Non-Brahmins. But he did not like

that idea. In this circumstance he was left with two alternatives. Either as

suggested by Tiru. Vi. Ka and other non-Brahmin leaders, he could have

continued with the Tamilnad Congress and strengthened the hands of the

progressive elements both in the Brahmin and non-Brahmin groups in their

attempts to eradicate social inequalities, or he could have inaugurated a

new organization specifically to fight the then prevailing sectarian social

practices.

1
Kudi Arasu, 29 August, 1926, p.1 & 3.
 178

As he believed the first alternative was impossible in his

lifetime, he chose the second and founded a new organization.2 E.V.R. cut

off from the Congress and gravitating towards the Justice, he was laying

the foundation of a dynamic social movement that has come to be styled as

the Self-Respect Movement.

Self-Respect Movement was not a mere social reformist

movement. It aimed at destroying the existing Hindu social order in its

totality and creating a new, rational society without caste, religion and

God. So it was considered a socially revolutionary movement which had

been destroying and creating, i.e., creative destruction or creation through

destruction.3

Meaning of Self- Respect

E.V.R had fully explained the meaning of Self-Respect and

the reasons for its emergence. “The Self-Respect Movement was

inaugurated not for talking ill of a particular community or sect, but to

destroy the social evils as a whole”4 According to E.V.R even Brahma

Samaj and Arya Samaj were established by the Brahmins only to safeguard

their own self-respect. So the non-Brahmins, had a right to start counter

associations to avoid those practices which were against their Self-Respect.

2
E. Sa. Viswanathan, The Political career of E.V.Ramamsami Naicker: A Study
in the Politics of Tamilnad 1920-1949; unpublished Ph.D Thesis, Canberra,
1973.
3
Thandavan, R., The Dravidian Movement, Chennai, 2001, p.9.
4
Kudi Arasu, 2nd August, 1931, p.4.
 179

Therefore he named his movement as “Self-Respect Movement”. It was

later on interpreted that the Self-Respect Movement was started to lead the

whole of humanity towards Self-Respect.5

Motive

The motive behind inauguration of the Self-Respect

Movement was nothing but E.V.R.’s contempt for caste system and its

evils. His bitter experiences in the Congress were also responsible for its

emergence. E.V.R.’s break with Congress in 1925 came essentially as a

result of his show down with the Brahmin Leaders who were opposed to

reforms. The Self-Respect Movement was dedicated to the goal of giving

non-Brahmins a sense of pride based on their Dravidian past which also

meant denial of the superiority of the Brahmins whom he described as

representative of the Aryans. Unlike the Justice Party, the Self-Respect

Movement was popular in its appeal. Though it began as a social reform

movement its effects were felt in the political field also.6

Objectives

The objectives of the Self-Respect Movement have been

outlined and stated in two pamphlets Namathu Kurikkol and

Tiravitakkalaka Lateiyam7

5
Thandavan, R., op.cit., p.9.
6
Engene F. Irschick, Politics and Social Conflict in South India, Bombay, 1969,
p.330.
7
Vishwanathan, op.cit., p.73.
 180

a) This movement aims to do away with such social structure of the

society where one class of people claim to be superior to others and

some men claim to be of higher birth than others.

b) It aims to work for getting equal opportunities for all people,

irrespective of their communities it will strive to secure equal status for

women along with men in life and according to law.

c) All people should be given equal opportunities for growth and

development.

d) Friendship and fellow feeling should be natural among all the people.

e) It aims to completely eradicate untouchability and to establish a united

society based on brotherhood and sisterhood.

f) To establish and maintain homes for orphans and widows and to run

educative institutions.

g) To discourage people from building new temples, mutts, chlorites or

Vedic Schools. People should drop the caste titles in their names.

Common funds should be utilized for educational purpose and for

creating employment opportunities for the unemployed.

The aims and resolutions were recommended for the careful

scrutiny and guidance of all the people in Tamil Nadu, after the first Self-

Respect Conference which was held at Chegalpattu on 17 and 18 February

1929. More than six thousand people attended this great conference. About

half of them were ordinary people who had come from distant places in the
 181

hope of getting sound advice on social equality, social evils and the ways

of overcoming the forces of exploitation. The next Self-Respect

Conference was held at Erode on 10 May 1930, under the chairmanship of

the Guest National leader M.R. Jayakar. This conference took a bolder step

than the previous one and discouraged idol worship in strong terms. At the

Self-Respect Conference held at Virudhunagar in August 1931 under the

presidentship of Sri Kanchi K. Shanmugam, all the progressive ideas were

emphasized, in addition to these, strongly worded resolutions against

untouchability and for the encouragement of inter-caste marriages were

passed.8

Founder

The real founder of the Self-Respect Movement was none

other than E.V.R. Once S. Ramanathan wrote: “I sponsored the Movement

and was its General Secretary. But I was comparatively young and

inexperienced. So we all crowned E.V.R. as the leader”.9 On the strength

of this statement it was believed that “unable to toe the line of the Justice

Party, Naicker had no other alternative but to strengthen the Self-Respect

league founded by S. Ramanathan, one of the articulate young non-

Brahmin members in the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee.”10

8
Saraswati, op.cit., pp.5-6.
9
Ramanathan, S., “Self-Respect Movement’ in Kuttucci Gurusamy Ninaivu
Malar, Madras, 1966, p.39.
10
E. Sa. Viswanathan, op.cit., p.41.
 182

M.K. Reddy when addressing the Chengleput Conference in

1929 remarked that E.V.R was the founder of the Movement.11 When

unveiling the portrait of E.V.R at the Tirunelveli conference, S.N.D.P.

Yogam, General Secretary, recollected the part played by E.V.R in the

Vaikom Satyagraha and remarked that after that E.V.R. founded the Self-

Respect Movement.12 E.V.R. himself declared in 1930 that he was the

founder of the Movement.13 In his weekly Kudi Arasu, he had referred to

the Self-Respect Movement in several articles as “the Movement of mine”

and “the movement which was started by me”.14 All these facts go to

prove that E.V.R was the sole architect to the Self-Respect Movement.

Operational Programmes:

To reform the society, the Self-Respect movement had the

following operational programmes:

1. It wanted to remove practices of using caste marks, caste costumes

and caste names.

2. It aimed at the elimination of employing Brahmin priests to officiate

at marriages and other ceremonies of the society.

3. It also favoured the simplifying of laws relating to divorce, widow

remarriage and inter - caste marriage.

11
Kudi Arasu, 29 December, 1929, p.1.
12
Kudi Arasu, 18 August, 1929, p.2.
13
Dravidian, 5 September, 1930, p.4
14
Kudi Arasu, 10 July, 1927, p.3.
 183

Establishment of the Self-Respect League

The year 1926 witnessed the establishment of Self - Respect

Leagues all over Tamil Nadu. After 1926 Election, eminent people from

Tirunelveli, Madurai, Tiruchi and Ramananthapuram founded the Self-

Respect Leagues.

At Tiruchi under the name “Parappanarallathar

Suyamariathai Sangam” an organization, was formed in one Kaliaperumal

Naidu’s house, E.V.R was accompanied by K.A.P. Viswanatham for its

formation.15 On 29 November when he arrived at Tirunelveli, Ramanatha

Desikar presented the manuscripts and pamphlets relating to Self-Respect

Movement to E.V.R who corrected and modified them. On the same day a

public meeting was addressed at Town Railway Station Road.

E.V.R. requested all non-Brahmins to support the Self-

Respect Movement. Delavay Ramasami Mudaliar, Theetharappa

Mudaliar, Kootha Nayinar, Gomathinayagam Pillai, Veerapathire Pillai and

Mahalingam Pillai were some of those prominent men of Tirunelveli who

took part in it. At Tenkasi it was inaugurated on 30 November when one

Meenakshisundaram Pillai was made the Secretary. Further discussions on

the Movement were held at Palaniappa Mudaliar’s house. On 1 December,

when a meeting was organized at Tuticorin Kumarasami Pillai, and

Muthukkaruppa Pillai were selected as President and Secretary

15
Kudi Arasu, 5 December, 1926, p.4.
 184

respectively. At Madurai Muthukkamatchi Mudaliar of Kambikkudi near

Madurai organized the Self-Respect League with the help of

Uthamapalayam M.T. Subramania Mudaliar. There he spoke in a public

meeting also and explained what Self-Respect was.16

After the establishment of the League in many places, Taluk

and District Conferences came to be organized. Before the commencement

of every conference, E.V.R. toured the areas for a week or two and

mobilized support for the success of the Conferences.17

First Annual Conference

The First Annual Conference held at Tirunelveli is worth

mentioning E.V.R. who founded the organization at Tirunelveli was again

invited to inaugurate the District Conference. The Conference was held on

28 November 1927. The Tamil scholar T.K. Chidambaranatha Mudaliar

inaugurated the Conference and requested E.V.R to preside over the

function.18 In this conference 32 resolutions were passed under the

presidentship of E.V.R.19 As resolved in the conference, people began to

discard Brahmins in their household ceremonies. The names of the

individuals who had avoided the Brahmins were published in the Kudi

Arasu continuously. Self-Respect marriages, Self Respect death

16
Kudi Arasu, 5 December, 1926, p.1.
17
Ibid., 6 May, 1928, p.1.
18
Kudi Arasu, 4 December, 1927, p.1.
19
Ibid., 11 December, 1927, p.1.
 185

ceremonies came to be conducted widely. E.V.R. took the place of the

priest in the conduct of certain Self-Respect marriages.

E.V.R’s Self-Respect Movement and Justice Party

E.V.R made use of the Justice Party’s platform and

newspapers for popularizing his creed. This movement was a crusade

against superstitions, rituals and temple worship. It might be defined as a

socio-organization whose aim is to reconstruct society on a human and

rational basis and to destroy caste-root and branch and ultimately destroy

religion as popularly understood and practiced.20 There was understanding

and mutual co-operation between the Justice Party and Self-Respect

Movement.

In the election of 1926, the Justice Party was defeated and

most of the leaders of Justice Party thought that their political life had

come to an end. But, E.V.R made an attempt to give a new life and spirit

to Justice Party. The Justicites also recognized his leadership. Thus, these

two parties maintained a close contact among themselves and the people

believed that the Self-respect Movement carried on the traditions of the

Justice Party.

E.V.R. who was not an admirer of the political aspirations of

the Justice Party supported their efforts to improve the general status of the

non-Brahmins. He utilized this opportunities to keep the spirit of the non-

20
Swaminathan, S., Karunanidhi - Man of Destiny, New Delhi; 1974, p.73.
 186

Brahmin leaders. His infusion of spirit led to the formation of a

Confederation of non-Brahmins at Madurai.21 This new line of action

helped E.V.R to be in close touch with various prominent non-Brahmins in

the districts and taluks. This accelerated the development of the

Movement. All over Tamil Nadu several non-Brahmin Conferences

(Parppanarallathar Mahanadu) were held E.V.R. by participating in them

strengthened his Movement.22

The Justice Conference held at Mayavaram in Tanjore

district the following May (1927) was named as Self-Respect Conference.

E.V.R himself moved a resolution that clearly enunciated the aims of his

Self-Respect Movement namely to discontinue the observance of caste

distinctions, not to employ Brahmin priests for officiating marriage and

other ceremonies and throwing open the temples and public roads, tanks

and wells to all persons.23

E.V.R. attended the Justice Special Conference held at

Coimbatore in July 1927.24 He followed the proceedings closely to

evaluate the Justicites attitude to the changing nature of the country. As

distinguished non-Brahmin leaders Tiru. Vi. Ka., P. Varadarajulu Naidu,

E.V.R had been invited to participate in the business of the Conference and

21
Eugene Irschick, op.cit., p.315.
22
Ibid., p.316.
23
The Hindu, 11 May, 1927, p.2.
24
Navasakthi, 6 July 1927, p.3.
 187

even to take sides on whether or not Justice members should be allowed to

join Congress.25

E.V.R who was very outspoken made a strong speech

condemning the Governor of Madras for appointing C.P. Ramasami Iyer, a

Brahmin as law member of the Executive Council; he even sought to

introduce a resolution urging the recall of the Governor, but friends

prevailed upon him to tone down his language and to withdraw the recall

motion.26 The happenings in the above conference did not satisfy E.V.R.

They were concerned more with drawing up of plans to recapture political

power after their election defeat than with indulging in politics against

Brahmins. E.V.R. had understood the prevailing mood in the Justice Party

and decided not to join forces with that party as they would obstruct his

own plans of bringing about social changes in the Tamil Society.

Opposition to Hinduism

According to the Self-Respect Movement, the root of all

social evils can be found in religion. It believed that without destroying the

superstitions based upon religion and tradition, it could not effect any

social change. In its opinion, the caste system was closely intervened with

the Hindu religion. So, in order to reform the society, it felt that there

was a dire need for changing some of the basic practices in the religion.

25
Navasakthi, 6 July 1927, p.3.
26
The Hindu, 7 July, 1972, p.2.
 188

E.V.R. stated, ‘Man is disgraced by caste and the caste is disgraced the

religion. How can we destroy one, keeping the other alive?27 He observed

that religion was a disease and the society was affected with this disease.

E.V.R. wanted not only to cure the society of its disease but he also wash

out to destroy the root of the disease - The Hindu religion.

Anti-Brahminism

Since the Brahmins were regarded as the custodians of

Hinduism as they were highborn people according to Hindu Philosophy,

the Self - Respect Movement segregated the Brahmins from the rest of the

society and fixed the responsibility on them for all the social evils. The

movement firmly believed that Brahmins used religion for dominating

others because the rituals that gave religious purity had led to social

supremacy and socio-political domination of the Brahmins.28

The Self-Respect Movement wanted to replace Hindu

religion with rationalism. It equated Hinduism with Brahminism and

maintained that it was the source of all irrational beliefs. So this movement

propagated the policy of atheism.

Self-Respect Marriages

It endeavours to establish a casteless society, the movement

advocated the boycott of Brahmin priests in conducting all ceremonies. As

27
See Bent Smidt Hansen, In respect of Periyar Ramasami in Janardhanam,
Madras, 1974, p.18.
28
Anita Diehl, Periyar E.V. Ramasami, Madras, 1979, p.26.
 189

a result of the movement’s incessant preaching, some non-Brahmins started

conducting their marriages without Brahmin priests. E.V.R. himself

conducted several such marriages, which were popularly known as ‘Self-

Respect Marriages’.

Marriages styled as Self-Respect Marriages carried a

threefold significance:

(i) Replacement of Purohits

(ii) Inter-Caste Equality

(iii) Man-Woman equality.

Periyar had regarded that the then conventional marriages

were mere financial arrangements and often caused great debt through

dowry. Self-Respect marriages encouraged inter-caste marriages and

arranged marriages to be replaced by love marriages.29 It was argued by the

proponents of self-respect marriage that the then conventional marriages

were officiated by Brahmins, who has to be paid for and also the marriage

ceremony was in Sanskrit which most people did not understand, and

hence were ritual and practices based on blind adherence.

To E.V.R., marriage is a mutual agreement, co-operative

enterprise, a deal, an order of Nature and not a one-sided contract in which

a woman accepts a subdued role.

29
Anita Diehl, op.cit., p.6.
 190

Caste Eradication Programme

In its caste eradication programme, the movement insisted on

the removal of caste marks and caste names. No one in the movement was

allowed to wear the sectarian caste marks of faith on his forehead. The

propaganda of the Self - Respect Movement against the practice of using

caste names such as Pillai, Gounder, Naidu and Mudaliar resulted in the

discontinuance of such appellations among the educated and enlightened

people.30

Anti-Hindi Agitations

Between 1925 and 1937 the Self-Respect Movement steadily

grew in strength and popular support. In 1937 under the New India Act the

Congress came into power, C. Rajagobalachari was the Chief Minister.

One of the early acts of this Ministry was to introduce a bill to make Hindi

a compulsory subject in the High Schools. E.V.R led the protest which

was violently opposed by Government. Viduthalai was publishing a

number of articles and statements against Hindi, the government framed

charges against that paper. The publisher of the paper E.V. Krishnasami

and its editor Pandit Muthusami Pillai were accused of anti-Governmental

attitude and were brought for trial. The court convicted them to six months

imprisonment each for indulging in anti governmental activities.

30
Thandavan, R., The Dravidian Movement, The Academy of Public Affairs,
Chennai, 2001, p.28.
 191

This repressive measure had unforeseen consequences. Anti-

Hindi meetings were held in a number of places and in all of them C.R.’s

attitude towards the Tamilians and the Tamil language was severely

criticized. Periyar addressed a mammoth meeting of more than seventy

thousand people in Madras and raised the slogan “Tamil Nadu for Tamils”.

From that day onwards the Justice Party also adopted that slogan as its

motto. After this meeting groups of people stood before Government

offices and shouted slogans against the imposition of Hindi. As a

result of this agitation C.N. Annadurai, Swami Shanmugananda,

K.M. Balasubramaniam and others numbering 1500 were imprisoned.

When the police were forced to open fire, two members of the Self-Respect

Movement were unfortunately killed, because of the vehement opposition

to the measure, the Madras Government compromised by making Hindi

not a compulsory but an optional subject in High Schools. The

significance of this anti-Hindi agitation cannot be overestimated. E.V.R

felt that Hindi was connected with Brahminism and Aryan culture.31

THE POLITICS OF THE SELF-RESPECT MOVEMENT

The most outstanding personalities on the Indian political

scene in the last century were Mahatma Gandhi and Loknayak Jayaprakash

Narayan. They have made unique contributions to political theory and

represented in their personalities an immense political force which none

31
Baker, Christopher John, The Politics of South India, New Delhi, 1976, p.163.
 192

could ignore. However, neither could found or find a political party that

could project all their philosophies and programmes. Though Periyar was

not working on a national scale, yet his philosophy had, no doubt,

relevance all over India. He was working through the medium of a

regional language, within a regional setting and for the regional people and

this factor limited the application of his theories essentially to the local

situation. However, his propaganda produced such widespread impact that

the leaders and parties at the national level could not afford to ignore him

or his campaigns.

In the early years of the Self-Respect Movement, Periyar

seemed to have been very clear in his opinion that linking social service

with political service would prove very harmful to social service. Periyar

observed that politics had led to the rise of dishonest people to cheat the

masses and he did not want social service to be associated with it. He

feared that it would also fall into the hand of dirty politics. Therefore, he

decided to keep away from politics completely.

Periyar asserted that everyone in politics was bound to turn

dishonest or betray his own society or nation. He thought that for the

continuance and success of the social service movement, an assurance

should be taken form the intending participants in the Self-Respect

Movement regarding non-participation in active politics.32

32
Baker, Christopher John, op.cit., p.48.
 193

His decision not to enter into politics was taken after

considerable thought, over the corrupting influence of politics. Periyar was

of the opinion that even Gandhiji’s movement-that was held as noble had

degenerated after the decision to enter legislative politics. However, the

movement that started in disgust of party politics was consciously or

unconsciously dragged into a search for its identity in the political arena.

At that time, the Self-Respect Movement went through a crisis over the

issue whether to have political participation or not. This crisis was solved

by a compromise solution adopted at a meeting. According to this, the

Self-Respect Movement was to concentrate primarily on its objective of

social transformation, but should permit those who wanted to enter politics

to do so. The change was due to the realization that any social reform could

be achieved through political power. Therefore, to accommodate the

politically inclined self-respecters it was decided to organize a socialist

party (Self-Respect Samadharma Party).

Achievements of Self-Respect Movement

The monopoly of power and influence enjoyed by the

Brahmins was slowly lost due to E.V.R.’s unceasing propaganda against

orthodoxy. It filled with the sense of self-respect and above all self-

confidence, to fight against social injustice perpetrated by the Brahmins of

the day. The practice of having separate dining places for Brahmins in

every hotel or earmarking separate eating places in public feasts was

 194

slowly given up owing to the agitation of the volunteers of the movement.

It was due to their relentless fight that the name boards of the hotels were

changed from “Brahmins Hotel” into mere “Vegetarian Hotel”.33 The

system of allotting separate places for Harijan members in the Municipal

Councils was also discontinued. Owing to its influence, several people

gave up their titles and took pride in publishing their names in Kudi Arasu.

The Self-Respect Movement played a significant role in the

political, social and religious life of the people of South India. It was

largely responsible for making an effective change in the social life of the

vast majority of people through its ceaseless propaganda against

superstitious beliefs, based upon religious traditions.

It popularized and perpetuated the assumption that the non-

Brahmins were of Dravidian origin and the original inhabitants of South

India and the Brahmins were Aryan invaders from the North. Thus, it was

instrumental in non-Brahmin communities of Tamil Nadu to create

awareness amongst themselves, as one community. The Self-Respect

movement brought the message of the Tamil Nationalism to the masses. In

short, Self-Respect Movement may be defined as a social organization

whose aim was to reconstruct society on a human and rational basis and to

33
Anita Dehil, op.cit., p.52.
 195

destroy caste - root and branch and ultimately destroy Hindu religion as

popularly understood and practised.34

In 1944, Justice Party was rechristened as Dravida

Kazhagam. The Self-Respect Movement and Dravida Kazhagam since

1944 became one and the same.

During the last days of E.V.R., he struggled hard for the

abolition of caste system. After Self Respect Movement he conducted

number of Movements to reform the society till his death.

34
Swaminathan, S., op.cit., p.73.