E.V. Ramasamy Naicker, popularly hailed as ‘Periyar’ by his followers, is known for founding the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is considered as the father of Dravidian movement and a harbinger of social justice who advocated atheism and rationalism. However, his atheism and rationalism was primarily directed towards Hinduism only and not towards other religions. The rationality in that kind of atheism still puzzles many thinking individuals.
The first person to start politics of hatred and violence even before Mohammad Ali Jinnah was Periyar. While Jinnah divided Indians on the basis of religion, Periyar incited hatred by exploiting linguistic differences and the English invented racial differences of Aryan-Dravidian. He proposed a separate Dravidistan along the lines of Pakistan and tried to collude with Jinnah too on the same. However, Jinnah saw him as a threat to his own plans and showed EVR the finger.
Over the years, a saintly image has been constructed around EV Ramasamy Naicker portraying him as the crusader of Tamils to the extent that the Tamil land is called as the ‘land of Periyar’ by his followers. Many in Tamil Nadu, celebrate him as the leader of Tamils and protector of Tamil rights. But his entire life has been contradictory to these claims. At the very outset, he himself was not a Tamilian but a Kannadiga. If one reads the speeches and editorials of Periyar in his mouthpieces Viduthalai and Kudiarasu, it would be evident as to what his views on Tamil and Tamilians were. Following are some historical records about Periyar that many do not know or consciously hide from the mainstream.
#1: Periyar considered Tamil to be a barbarian language.
In an editorial article of Viduthalai dated October 11, 1967, Periyar called Tamil as a “kaatumiraandi mozhi”, meaning barbarian language. He mentions Tamil as a barbarian language not once but several times during the course of his lifetime. He wanted Tamil to be discarded at home and advocated the use of English as the medium of communication. He went to the extent of saying that ‘Tamil is a language that is not even useful for begging’.
#2: Periyar ridiculed Silappadikaram.
Silappadikaram, the great Tamil epic written by Ilango Adigal and belonging to the ancient Sangam literature, was called by Periyar as an Aryan propaganda tool. In a speech made on March 30, 1951, he shuns Silappadikaram as a text filled with Aryan concepts. One of the finest and richest literature ever produced by mankind, he considered it to be a treasure of superstitions and slavery of women.
#3: Periyar brutally criticized Kamba Ramayanam.
Kamba Ramayanam, the Tamil version of Ramayana that is revered in Tamil Nadu was denounced by Periyar as a ‘storehouse of falsehood’. He opined that literature like Kamba Ramayanam betrayed the Tamil race. He said that the popularity of literature like Kamba Ramayanam and Silappadikaram showed that Tamil people had no intelligence and self-respect.
#4: Periyar called Tamil society as backward and irrational.
During October and November 1967, Periyar wrote several articles describing that Tamils were backward and irrational. He said that Tamils invented only backward elements like grinding stone, cotton wicks, oil lamps, bullock cart, palm leaf, mantras, yogic power etc which had no practical utility. He even mentioned that Tamils had no concept of time and that it was adopted from the English society. To him, Tamils were a bunch of people, who had no racial feeling, no self-respect, no nationalism and no humaneness.
#5: Periyar was a harsh critic of Tamil scholars.
In the edition of Viduthalai dating March 16, 1967, he observed that Tamil scholars and pundits deserved to be imprisoned for life and hanged as they did not create anything that led to society’s progress. He described the World Tamil Conference as a “census to enumerate fools”.
#6: Periyar referred to the ancient Saivite and Vaishnavite Tamil literature as rubbish.
Tamil Saivite literature like Tevaram, Tiruvasagam and Tirumandiram which are part of the Thirumurai, a collection of songs in praise of Hindu God Shiva was called as rubbish by Periyar. Divyaprabandham, which is considered as the Tamil Veda and Periyapuranam written by the renowned saint Sekkizhar that elaborated the lives of 63 Nayanmars were called by Periyar as instruments that harmed the Tamil society.
#7: Periyar equated Thirukkural to excreta.
While Thirukkural has been a revered work across the world, Periyar called it “feces placed in a golden plate”. Though he praised Thirukkural in the beginning, he started condemning it in his later years. The issue of Viduthalai dated June 1, 1950, had a writing of Periyar that condemned Thirukkural for carrying ideas opposed to ‘rationalism’. When a few people asked him if Thirukkural too would be gone, what literature the Tamils would be left with, he responded saying:
I am saying remove the excreta emanating bad smell from the room… and you are asking me if we remove this excreta what should we replace in its place?
#8: Periyar maligned freedom fighter and Tamil poet Subramania Bharathi.
In the journal Ticutar, he besmirched Bharathiyar for describing Mother Tamil as a sister of Sanskrit in his poems. He indirectly referred to Bharathiyar as a rat living in agraharam. He said that:
They say Bharati is an immortal poet. Even if a rat dies in an agraharam, they would declare it to be immortal. Why should this be so? Supposedly because he sang fulsome praises of Tamil and Tamil Nadu. What else could he sing? His own mother tongue, Sanskrit, has been dead for years. What other language did he know? He cannot sing in Sanskrit.
All these comments and views of Periyar on Tamil and Tamil society makes one really wonder whether Periyar was a champion of Tamils or was he an anti-Tamil bigot and a rabble rouser? Though his comments may have had certain historical and sociological context, the genesis of venomous elements in today’s Tamil society can be traced to this demagogue called E.V. Ramasamy Naicker who in the name of rationalism perpetrated nothing but hatred.
References:
- Viduthalai, Madras, October 11, 1967
- Viduthalai, Madras, March 16, 1967
- Viduthalai, Madras, June 1, 1950
- https://swarajyamag.com/politics/ten-things-about-periyar-dravidian-parties-dont-want-you-to-know
- https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/61790/14/14_chapter%207.pdf