EVR Periyar: A checkup on facts & propaganda

If you were ever revolted by the plethora of roadside statues in India, then credit for this ever rising craze should go to that one man tsunami that brought about that infamous “Statue Culture “ to EV Ramasamy Naicker known as Periyar to his followers. As was usual with Dravidian politics, this focus and obsession of statues  ironically began as an anti idol movement to reason out faith and beliefs of Hinduism to pamper to Islamic and Christian fundamentalists and as admiration of anything western.  Breaking of idols of Lord Ganesha in Salem when Congress ruled Tamilnadu and India during early 1950s didn’t elicit even murmurs of intolerance as Hindus were subdued for over a thousand years and Secular congress was a mere continuation of that colonial British rule that was indifferent and insensitive to majoritarian Hindu sentiments. EVR called Idols as lifeless stones and called out those beliefs of honouring and worshipping them as crass and superstitious. Because of fundamental confusions in the logic of Dravidian politics, those anti Idol cries lead ironically to a huge spurt in grotesque statues across Tamilnadu which are seriously now believed to have lives, garlanded and worshipped proving existence of some recoil reverse effect to deliver what the opposite of rationalism that Dravidian politics claimed and propagated for decades. 

The pinnacle of this hypocrisy was when a statue of EVR was unveiled by his disciples  in the presence of EVR himself in Chennai. Earlier Chief Minister CN Annadurai had unveiled statue of Film artist NS Krishnan. As a result Dravidian politics became Statues’ driven resulting in” Statues crazy Sychophantic anticulture”.  The World Tamil Conference in Chennai ran by Chief Minister CN Annadurai focused on statues for tamil savants but their choice was filled with prejudices and controversies. Politicising of tamil language began with the unveiling of statues on the Marina beach. This politics has now amplified into construction of memorials across the state with tax payers money running into ₹100s of crores. UttarPradesh of Chief Minister Mayawati entered the fray and sure she did give competition. Thousands of statues for EVR dot Tamilnadu especially across famed temples to provoke and insult Hindu believers while none exist opposite churches or mosques. Soon, roads were renamed, portraits unveiled, housing colonies were to be named after politicians in Tamilnadu. Tokenism was the key mantra. This anticulture craze in Tamilnadu soon spread and tempted politicians across India, who also went over drive to erect statues for their leaders in different corners of India. No political party in India was exception to this rule but dynastic, Sychophantic parties went top gear installing ugly, disproportionately formed insulting ugly specimens as life like statues which exposed the hypocrisy of their intentions and the poor skill of the sculptors. A three foot statue with a foot long head became common. BR Ambedkar was the worst abused. EVR, Annadurai, MGR and Gandhi statues were not far behind. Karma hit back with mediocrity as excellence was mocked at. 

Naicker laid foundations to a confused self respect and rationalist(as he called himself..rationalising whatever he did) movement that emanated from his enormous personal frustrations. Most of them were caused by feelings and thoughts of admiration for the white skin along with extreme desires of greed, Kama, jealousy, envy and ambition. The seeds were sown by the upper class elitist but anti brahmin Justice party which competed with Congress to solicit favours from the British. Remember that the Congress party was not founded to demand independence and neither was the Justice party. It was from this elitist Justice Party evolved Dravida Kazhagam. We will see how and why EVR did what he did? What made him what he was. Was he the profound reformer who transformed society as claimed by his followers and propagandists? Am aware that any effort to break the status quo about EVR’s presumed greatness will be resisted byrationalists who admire him blindly as they are aware such questions on EVR will break the artificial halo built for political and monetary gains. But without understanding the mind of EVR, it’s impossible to understand the Dravidian parties’ hypocritical contempt for idols and love for statues. 

As I had defined and amplified in an earlier article, a great mind is one that influences a period of time. The longer the period of impact, the more conceptual the idea conceived is deemed to be of the impacting mind. So we have great minds that have stood the test of time. Socrates, Confucius, the unknown authors of the Hindu Vedas, etc. Mickey Mouse size influences frequent and are limited by time. Social media short term tiny influences last for a day in the name of trends. I see Adi Sankara as the last great mind India saw as he could influence with his Advaitha concept and limit Buddhism in India. Since then, many pocket size influences had come and goneby. Whenever rat sized opinions and ideas existed, huge euphoria erupts and few months or years later, the bubble bursts. Some thoughts are kept alive by artificial resuscitation following propaganda theories and methods. But no propaganda can ever overshadow the influence of great minds and their conceptual ideas. Even the most advanced digital propagandist tools can never harm ideas that are rounded and complete. Twentieth century India had a handful of many short influences but most of them derived a narrow, sectional idea for political purposes catering and serving some sections of society. Ideas that are inclusive of all of humanity are sustainable. Compare it with the Vedas which stood for the whole humanity, whose authors unknown and survived the test of time through word of mouth. 

EVR Naicker born very rich, ran a family temple of Lord Ganesha in Erode. His parents were pious, morally upright and hereditarily wealthy. Their piousness and personal discipline irritated problem child EVR and he revolted. EVR desired a free, no holds barred, condition free exciting life. Refused schooling after elementary level. He was forcibly married to a very pious girl with that fond typical South Indian belief that marriage cures all kinds of vagabounds and eccentric young men. But a conditioned home surrounding with a religious wife further irked EVR who loved being a play boy. Whatever came on the way to his promiscuous life was detested and he envied and admired the British in India living an ammoral life in India. His later joining the Congress party was because of his belief that political connections will further his fun life. Unfortunate for him the Congress he joined in 1919 had many morally upright stalwarts like Sathyamurthy, a brahmin which deepened his despair. 

EVR worked meticulously to break the moral shackles around him. Play boys were called ‘minors’ in Tamilnadu those days probably because they continue to stay adolescent despite growing in age. Minor EVR was found on river banks with his friends having games of “Kama”. His pious wife objected. But he tried repeatedly to cure her of her religious life and repeatedly told her not to visit temples as he understood that visiting temples as the cause for her rigid moral culture, which was an impediment to his minor life. He once sent sent his close friends to ogle and tease his wife while she was on a visit to a temple and succeeded in impressing her later that going to temples was unsafe for her as temples are filled with rogues and mischief makers. EVR can go to any extent to tarnish the name and credibility of anyone who came on his way and his wife too became a victim to his machinations. She later stopped her temple visits.

EVR’s desire for instant stardom in Congress was not achieved because of Leaders like Sathyamurthy and some other Brahmins who ran the party. In 1919, Sathyamurthy was selected by Congress Party as one of the representatives to the Joint Parliamentary Committee of the UK to protest against Rowlatt Act and Montagu Chelmsford reforms. Newcomer to the Congress, EVR tried to impress the Congress party about his eligibility but he was not accepted as his knowledge of English was almost zero. The seeds of antibrahmanism were finding roots in EVR’s mind because of the challenges posed by Brahmins in his personal and physical life. He began to imagine that Brahmins posed threats to every facet of his progress in life despite being in forward community which he flaunted. As he played gross games with his wife and succeeded, so he preserved with them in public life too.

When Brahmin Sathyamurthy led Congress entered the famous Madurai Meenakshi Temple with Dalits, EVR objected. He felt he was deprived of his opportunities for stardom with Brahmin Sathyamurthy being proactive with integration of castes. C. Rajagopalachari was another tall brahmin leader whom EVR envied. Of course, adept at manufacturing reasons for his objections to Sathyamurthy entering temple, Congressman EVR later staged a satyagraha on the streets leading to Vaikom temple in Kerala with his wife. Though it was Mahatma Gandhi talk to the Ranis that ensured entry for Ezhava community into Vaikom temple, chroniclers of EVR conveniently ignore this fact. Double speak, double games, hypocrisy marked all of EVR’s actions but he continue to bank on the time tested weapon of #hate. Hate had powers to attract mass attention and history shows hate can over throw powers and establishments as people mislead to misread it as revolution of love. The aftermath of hate based rebellions had left always conditions worse than it were. French Revolution was a singular example. EVR soon realised that as long as he stayed in Congress he cannot divide the castes and religions, as Gandhi at the national level and Sathyamurthy in South India has succeeded in almost integrating and uniting the castes for the cause of Indian independence movement. So he quit. 

EVR the Congressman left after a short period as he also faced strong leadership in the party in Sathyamurthy and opportunities for office missing and despite the Assembly honouring him as Vaikom Veerar in an effort to please him. Sathyamurthy led Congress to victory in the Provincial elections in 1937 & became Mayor of Madras in 1939. Having been limited by Congress stalwarts who were Brahmins he remembered the tricks of the Anti brahmin Justice Party and decided to adopt their modus operandi. Despite EVR losing to Sathyamurthy within the Congress, EVR’s followers many decades later had their last hateful laugh when surreptiously they removed his name from Sathyamurthy reservoir in Poondi which was conceived by Satyamurthy to supply water to Chennai city. Now it is known plainly as Poondi reservoir. Such spiteful caste politics filled with hate and revenge continues till today.

Remember, EVR did not rise against the British at any time during his long life. He admired the British. He wanted people to give up their mother tongue and speak in English. He despised Indian languages whether it was Tamil or Sanskrit. EVR petitioned to the Raj to consider a separate South Indian Dravidian state if India was to be divided as a Hindu India and a Muslim nation. British ignored him as a non entity. Infuriated and disappointed that his dreams for power were vanishing, he pleaded with British not to give India independence and in case they had to, continue to govern India from London. When India became independence, he boycotted the celebrations and called 15th of August, 1947, a day of mourning. Later, he declared that his organisation, Dravida Kazhagam will ever never aspire for power. A clear example of sour grapes. In 1931, EVR exposed his fangs against democracy too:“In a nation with different languages,religions and castes with low literacy, democracy can not in any way bring any progress”, EVR wrote. Very ironical that a fifth class educated man was deemed to be progressive despite his disdain for illiterate cattle class. 

EVR admired British colonialism and believed it to be an example of political supremacy. In his love for English, he attacked Tamil culture including Tamil language, the Temples of Tamilnadu, the beliefs of Hindus, and attacked both Brahmins and Dalits on vulgar terms. He was the angry man spewing vitriolic hate against society, blaming, abusing, mocking, vulgarising Tamils. In the course of his life he divided races as Aryan and Dravidian, Tamils and non Tamils, Brahmins and non Brahmins, South Indians and North Indians, the elitist rich and the condemned labour, superstitious Hindus and Other religions. He objected to government favouring Muslims and it was only the Christians, he seems to have spared. His weapon was hate and like Adolf Hitler didn’t think twice that he could hurt innocent people. Marwaris and Gujarathis were targeted too. So much so, Tamilnadu practices hate as a philosophy today and have  a contender for Chief Ministership of Tamilnadu wearing the proud name of tyrant Russian dictator Stalin. A civilisation famous for love,openness and embrace of races was maimed openly under the name of revolution, by fast spinners of hate. Nobody dare question the catastrophe that fell on people. 

But despite aging, EVR’s habits and philistine life continued. The decision to marry a girl fifty years younger to him exposed the hypocrisy of Dravida Kazhagam and his supporters realised that a storm of fury was blowing within. CN Annadurai walked away from EVR to form a political outfit called Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. EVR went hammer and tongs on CNA for his decision as was usual with him. Later while travelling abroad, he attended nude camps in Germany without any moral qualms and posed for pictures. Some revolutionary, he was. 

With a totally upper class bourgeois arrogance EVR had no compassion for the Dalits. When 44 Dalits were massacred by non brahmin upper castes in Keezhavenmeni, he chose to be tactfully remain quiet. He mocked blouse wearing Dalit women as responsible for increase in the cost of clothes. When Dalits fought for higher wages, he condemned those who organised them in these fights for rights. EVR hated communists to the core. Even in 1943, he called Communists a sugar coated poison as he thought Communists were threat to his bourgeois life. EVR was like a heavy road roller that crushed anything that came between his deep desires but was smart and cunning enough to mask them as social issues. EVR was against higher education as he felt cheap labour would become unavailable then. His followers never questioned him and he won’t brook any such nonsense. It is hilarious that many Dalit parties and Communists claim that EVR toiled for them.

Returning to his pet theory of hate of Brahmins, EVR conceived the Aryan invasion theory, Lemuria continent, Kumarikandam, etc to provide an intelligent scholastic interpretation to his thoughts. Scholars like Christian Devaneya Pavanar helped further this with all kinds of defences and interpretations. EVR admired the Christian evangelist G U Pope for conceiving the Aryan theory of invasion. Only with this theory an attempt at ravaging Hinduism could be tried for projecting Brahmins as aliens to India and Hinduism. Brahmins had successfully resisted foreign rule for a thousand years and were considered custodians of Hindu culture. Some non descriptive foreigners who supported these unproven theories were hailed as great scholars in the World Tamil Conferences organised by the Dravidian parties. Government money was misused by DMK party to carry imaginary claims as movies came to be considered real in the stunted brains of Tamils. They lost ability to discern under the rule of rationalists. B R Ambedkar mocked and called Aryan Invasion an ‘invention’.

Recently new interpretations are given to defend EVR’s thoughts. We are told that he was not against Brahmins but against Brahmanism. That he was not against God but was against misuse of God’s name. Most of EVR’s statue carry his message of ‘No God’. So is the new twist to Brahmanism as opposed to Brahmins. Nowhere did EVR or EVR’s protégées condemned the upper castes of Chettiars, Nayakars, Reddiars, Mudaliars, Gounders, etc and their domination in social sphere. Nor the suppression by the Thevar community of scheduled communities objected to. EVR excercised  selective hatred based on his personal experiences and remained and died as one. Claims that he was friendly with Brahmins including Rajaji were eye wash. Clever twists that marked propagation that he loved the depraved castes are meant for optics. And vote bank. Period.

Another claim was that EVR stood for women’s emancipation. The elements under this can be divided as contempt for arranged marriages, distrust in love marriages, belief in self respect marriages, stand against child marriages and support for widow remarriages, property rights of daughters in parental property, his contempt for extravagant pompous weddings and dowry, demand for educational rights and support for the concept of an independent woman.

There are both merits and demerits in this broad claim regarding women emancipation but we must understand EVR’s mind from the back drop of his western way of living. He interpreted arranged marriage as prostitution wherein the girl is carried away for sex by strangers. Had contempt for love marriages which he looked down as a mere attraction of sexes. He hated the concept of chaste women, thought children inessential for a married couple and assumed an agreement between couple was far better and brought in the idea of self respect marriage as rational. I must mention here that our family which was a great devotee of EVR has been following his self respect marriages (though as a rebel, I opted for a total Vedic wedding).  I was witness multiple times to Dravidian politicians who womanise, held multiple wives get on wedding dias to bless couple on PA system that the newly married should lead life like Lord Rama and Seetha. Thank God none of them ever blessed the newly married couple that they should ever live life as they did. The publicly read out marriage agreement became a superficial drama and in the melee, neither of the couple ever meant what they read out as an oath. It was forgotten in a minute.

Fact remains that EVR married a teenager who was fifty years younger than him and threw to the dustbin his disdain for child marriages. He had married Nagammai, aged 13, earlier as a teenager. What he spoke and what he did in real life were often contrary. This hypocrisy is followed by his followers till today. Though EVR desired simple marriages which carried enormous good sense, what pompous Dravidian followers did in practice will make him hang his head in shame. None follow the few good things EVR propagated. His propagation for widow remarriage was not adhered to by his second wife Maniammai nor by any of the widows of any Dravidian leader.  Am aware that girl students in hostels run by the Dravidar Kazhagam trust in Tamilnadu provide nutritionless tastless food to girl students despite collecting huge fees. What a profound way to build our daughters? Poet Bharathi demanded similar rights and conceived the concept of a brave woman who will look straight into the eyes of others and hold head high with clarity of thought, decades before EVR mouthed words like women emancipation but this poor poet who died in penury was cursed and born as a Brahmin. So ignored.

EVR’s rationalism was limited by his experiences but refused to accept that marriage in a civilisation has been conceived not as some individual enterprise but as a social effort to ensure a lifelong commitment by couple. Fact remains that while all the hate theories of EVR were meticulously followed by his blind followers, none of his good ideals were followed even as chutney. So contemporary rationalism is more an after thought to defend actions that covered one’s frustrations and hide personal ambitions. Credit to EVR that he succeeded largely in what he set out to achieve though he will be debated for a few more decades. Many Brahmins too are taken to his ideas as it is easy and convenient to follow him instead of the rigours of discipline, practices and restraints which tradition demanded of them. More importantly, as a rationalist one can be argumentative thereby giving the impression of an intelligent person. And when a counter arrives, instantly it invites high decibel names and abuses. Debating may be popular on prime time but Dravidian politicians and supporters hate it. They demand submission as they are insecure.

To those who think that EVR created a self respect society in Tamilnadu. I had answered.

https://www.straighttalks.in/2018/05/long-live-self-respect-we-have-none.html

Even the Westerners gloat at EVR hitting at Tamil civilisation that had survived centuries of foreign rule. What the whites aspired for was being done from within, destruction catalysed on a vibrant culture and so the Christian dominated UNESCO honoured EVR with an award in 1970 turning Nelsons eye to the fact that racism was banned by United Nations. Happens when UN agencies are filled with evangelists and fundamentalists trying to remove diversities in culture in the name of protection. Remember UNHRC has as its members China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Cuba, etc. Nations that have no trace of human rights yet this hypocrisy called United Nations continues to exist as the biggest Tamasha on the planet.

So as namesake statues come up in every street corner of Tamilnadu and across India, apart from they being crude works of art it’s a fact that they have no value, culturally or politically. Apart from occupying public spaces and wasting enormous money that bring in no returns, they are analogous to the posters and banners that get erected. None will ever steal these worthless pieces of work. They expose the vacuum within our contemporary society like the books we buy for display. Irony is that the superstitious idols of ancient temples of backward superstitious Hindus continue to be stolen and traded across the world for millions and possibly billions of dollars. A culture of a civilisation is judged by its contributions to sustaining a society. The proof of the pudding lies in the high standards of arts. The idols are considered worth every milligram or in millimetres. Tamilnadu is limited by the filmi world and is not in a state to work out the mind beyond Kollywood factory. You can also see statues marketed in open without fear of theft in Mamallapuram while State owned Poompuhar which trades in idols has high security. I predict that crazes will die naturally while excellence whether in art or culture will always prevail!

Breaking News: A statue has been unveiled for Karunanidhi in Chennai. A temple has been built for atheist Karunanidhi near Gudiyatham by DMK cadre.

PS Grateful for my association with Aruppukottai Thavamanirasan, Kavignar Karunaandam,  and Nallarasu who were EVR's direct associates and with whom I was fortunate to be friends with .