What Rashtrabhasha?
Once upon a time, in an India still fresh from independence, there lived a freedom fighter by the name of E.V. Ramaswamy or simply, Periyar. Today, he is known for having founded the Dravida Kazhagam party and the Self-Respect movement. (Remember the initials DK because this is the story of how DK ends up as DMK, ADMK and AIADMK. It’s like a family tree or a river that breaks up into numerous little tributaries before running along into the sea). Born in Erode, Periyar Ramaswamy was a man who believed that national politics was dominated by the North and by an essentially Brahminical Congress party. What he began as Dravidian politics thus became a movement towards achieving greater power for Southern parties as well as equality and respect for lower caste communities. The root of the North-South divide however, lay in linguistics.
When India gained independence, it was decided that Hindi and English would be the official languages of the union for practical purposes for a period of 15 years, after which English (the coloniser’s tongue) would cease to be used. In 1935, Hindi was made compulsory in schools in Tamil Nadu, igniting a series of anti-Hindi protests that picked up again in the 1960’s when the time came to drop English from official documents, making Hindi, by default, the sole national language. The Official Languages Act of 1963 then extended the status of English, and today we still use both in all official transactions. In addition 22 other languages are recognised by the Constitution as official languages of India. (Why then, do you think the new 2000 rupee notes have Devanagari numerals printed on them? K.P.T Ganesan, a resident of Madurai has taken it up and filed a PIL. Food for thought).
Being the head of Dravida Kazhagam, an organisation for southern, non-Hindi speaking states, Periyar was of course, at the forefront of these agitations. Now here’s an interesting thing about Periyar. Neither he, nor the party he represented, ever contested in political elections. According to Periyar, social work and political work could never go hand in hand and one had to choose between the two. “Will the one who asks such questions get any votes?” asked Periyar, who often challenged religious practises and social norms prevalent among the potential vote bank.
Meanwhile in his shadow, an ardent follower named Annadurai began to gain popularity in the party. Disagreeing with Periyar about the incompatibility of social transformation and political power, Annadurai in 1949 broke away to form his own party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. While Periyar wished for an ultimately independent Dravida Nadu, Annadurai was willing to negotiate with the Centre.
Fun Fact: You may have noticed how despite minor differences, all Dravidian parties have red and black rectangles on their flags. In the early 1930’s, Periyar travelled to Europe and Soviet Russia only to return several months later greatly influenced by the progressive movements of that time, especially by socialist ideology. So upon his return he asked all his party members to wear black as a “symbol of the down-trodden Dravidian” while on the flag the ‘rising red’ rectangle signified upcoming change within the horizon.
With that, you may return to reading about Annadurai and Tamil Nadu’s history of politics and cinema.
