THE MAN OF VISION

I do not know if all of you know or do not know, but I want to tell one important history which I have read from the books that the two most brutal law enforced in India, one was Pesuva Brahmins in the Pune, Maharashtra and the other Namboodiri Brahmins in the State of Travancore in Kerala.
The command given by the Pesuva Brahmins to the Sudhras was to have a mug around their neck, broom at their waist and bell on their hands. Sudhras should carry this wherever they move. The same command was given by the Namboothiri Brahmins to the Sudhras that women should not hide their chest and another command that the Sudhra stood 64 feet away from the Nair Community and 128 feet away from the Namboodiri Brahmins. Sudras were called as an unseeable community or unapproachable castes
During this dark age of Sudhra at Kerala, Mahatma Ayyankali was born on 28th August 1863 in an agricultural family in Perumkattuvila, Thiruvananthapuram. He belongs to the Pulia Caste. When I read the history of Mahatma Ayyankali, I felt it was similar to that of the history of Mahatma Phule's life.
Mahatma Phule faced caste discrimination when he went to attend the marriage ceremony of his upper caste friend’s home, just like the same, Ayyankaali also faced the caste discrimination in his childhood days while playing football with his caste Hindu children. He was being beaten up by upper caste Hindus. On that same day, he vowed not to play with upper caste Hindus.
Even before Baba sahib Ambedkar, Mahatma Ayyankali used the formula "Educate, Agitate & Organise". His struggle was to create a casteless society. Mahatma Ayyankali's life struggle was to achieve "Equality, Liberty and brotherhood" in Indian Society. Your education should be aimed at social transformation and economic emancipation. If your education remains as an education that fills your stomach, it will destroy not only you, it will destroy your own community too. if you get the right education, there will be a rebellious provoke within you, that rebellion will automatically consolidate you as a sanga. At the Age of 30, Mahatma Ayyankali started his awareness programme to the Bahujan Dravida Masses through his "bow cart" Rally. He rode a "Bow Cart" against the ban on untouchables from accessing public roads by caste Hindus.
To crush the chain of slavery built in the name of the castes, Mahatma Ayyankali wrapped a robe around his shoulder, tied a turban and travel with his bow cart on the public streets and markets. Although this event refreshed the oppressed people, it annoyed and surprised the upper caste hindus
Ayyangali held a rally in Balaramapuram demanding the rights of the ‘untouchables. The rally was called the "Walk for Freedom." The rally was infiltrated by upper caste Hindu Gundas. Thus, the great riot broke out. The riot was known as the ‘‘Chaliyar riots’’. Hundreds of Bahujan Dravidians were injured in this riot, But they fought very bravely under the leadership of Mahatma Ayyankali and won fundamental rights. As the Scheduled Caste students were not allowed to enter schools, Mahatma Ayyankali encouraged Pulaya farmers to go on strike and declared, “If our kids are not allowed to enter your schools, your paddies will grow mere weeds.” This was the first strike of the working class in Kerala conducted by Mahatma Ayyankali. After the long struggle of Mahatama Ayyankali with the working-class people, On March 1 1910 the Travancore government ordered that Pulaya children to be admitted in all schools which Ezhava children have access to.
  Inspired by Sree Narayana Guru, a social reformer from Ezhava caste, Ayyankali started "Sadhu Jana Paripalana Sangham” which later raised funds to start their own schools. In 1916 he established Theeyankara Pulaya School. Later, Hundreds of offices of "Sadhu Jana Paripaalana Sangham (SJPS) were turned into schools.
He removed the sub caste contradictions that existed among the scheduled caste in Kerala and united them to travel under one umbrella. Moreover, he was a pioneer in empowering the Bahujan Dravida in Educationally, socially and he also fought to politicize the Bahujan Dravida Masses
In 1912, Ayyankali was nominated as a member of the Sri Mulam Popular Assembly – a position he held till his death. Mahatma Ayyankali was the first Scheduled Caste person to be nominated to the legislature in colonial India. In the Assembly, Ayyankali consistently raised the problems being encountered by Pulayar children in acquiring education, poor representation of Bahujan Dravidas in jobs, unemployment and land for Bahujan Dravidas. That forced the government to sit up and take notice and in 1914, an order was issued, stipulating strict adherence to the educational policy.
Ayyangali passed away on 18 June 1941, but his immense struggle of history did not reach at the national level. If Mahatma Ayyankali had not been struggled for the social change, the situation of the Bahujan Dravida in Kerala would have been much worse. Some social group leaders, who worked on the basis of Ayyankali have become stooges of the Brahminical forces and also uphold the policy which was against Ayyankali's policies.
But the true followers of Ayyankali have been continuously fighting for the highest goal of equality, liberty fraternity.
Jai Kanshiram Jai Mahatma Ayyan Kali

Tamil Nadu consists of 32 districts, in which almost 27 districts are occupied by the Mallar community, who once ruled Tamil Nadu, as noted in history as the Chera, Chola and Pandiya kingdom. Later with the Aryan invasion, the community gradually lost their power and were reduced to the status of slaves.
As on date, the overall population of the Mallar community in Tamil Nadu is an estimated 1,75,00,000. The Mallar community is known for its fight against the evil discrimination in the Hindu social system. Also, in its effort to uphold their self-respect and dignity and in a show of expressing their discontentment, they opted for getting converted into Muslims and Christians in the past. The Mallar community unperturbed by oppression unleashed against them had led several agitations to preserve the self-respect of the people of Scheduled Caste (SC) in Tamil Nadu. The community holds the privilege for not bowing down before the Manuvadis’ for the sake of their social development. However, known for their innocence and contained emotional attitude, they failed to understand the might of their numerical strength and its significance in attaining political power. Therefore, the Mallar community lagged behind others in the realms of social, economical and educational progress. Though, agriculture was the main occupation, more than 80% of people were landless agricultural coolie while the remaining are small scale and marginal farmers. In such a scenario, the revolutionary social reformer in the Malla community, Thiyagi Immanuel Sekaran born in 1924. After witnessing the oppression and exploitation of Bahujan brother’s and their meager existence, he felt a lot to be desired for the betterment of the community. In 1942, Dr. Ambedkar appealed to the Scheduled Caste community through Radio, to join the British Army. After hearing the appeal, young Shekaran did not hesitate for a moment and joined the military service at once. Later, on visiting his district on availing leave and seeing the miserable condition of the Bahujans, and the caste atrocities unleashed against them by the upper caste people and the ruthless exploitation of the innocent Bahujans, he decided not to return to the Military and to work for the betterment of the suffering masses. Thereby he decided to work for the self respect and justice for the Scheduled Caste and other Backward Classes, who were also subjected to untouchability.
Accordingly, in 1946 in unison with Thekkampatti Balasundaram, he conducted a very big convention for the Mallar Community at Madurai. In Tamil Nadu, Mallar is the first community to recognize and accept the scholarship of Dr. Ambedkar and his works. Similarly, Dr. Ambedkar also expressed his delight for the unity of Mallar community in Tamil Nadu.
Immanuel Sekharan, for a long time could not find an appropriate measure for alleviating the miseries of discrimination meted out to the Mallar community. However, , he unified the Mallars and other socially and economically backward castes through the Organization of Depressed Classes in 1952 and expressed their opposition to upper caste people.
During 1953, Shri. Rajagopalachari (Brahmin) was forced to resign his post as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, who was succeeded by Shri. Kamaraj Nadar and Shri. Kakkan who hailed from Scheduled Caste became the Home Minister in Nadar Cabinet. Due to the enormous political stature of Shri. Kakkan, Shri. Immanuel Sekaran joined the Congress Party and was subsequently appointed as the spokesperson for Ramnad District Congress. However, as he was leading the civil rights movement and the waging the battle against hegemony of Brahiminical Caste System, he became incredibly popular among all the Backward Caste of Shudhras but for Kallar Community. Because of his active rebellion against Brahmanism, it was only natural that Congress Party distanced itself from him and his activities. Consequently in 1955, he left the Congress and fielded two Backward Class Candidates with the support of Forward Block against the Congress in the local body elections and managed to win both the seats.
In 1956, to create the socio-political awareness among the Mallar Community, he organized the First Political Conference of Mallars on 6 th December 1956. On the 6 th December, the Greatest Liberation Icon of India Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, passed away. On hearing the demise of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, he passed the condolence resolution to mourn the death of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in the very same conference. The Mallar community is the first community in the world to pass the condolence resolution to mourn the death of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. During this convention, Shri. Emmanuel Sekaran conveyed Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s message to Mallars that Political Power is the only solution to surmount the sufferings and atrocities. The entire speech delivered by Shri. Emmanuel Sekaran on the occasion was about the importance of gaining Political Power. He emphasized on the political power held by Brahminical forces and its implications viz., the suffering of the people of Mallar and other socially oppressed classes. Therefore, he underscored the significance of the Political Power to live with self-respect. He enlightened the Mallars, to progress towards capturing of Political power in the Centre as well as in the State, which he felt was the only solution to lead a dignified life filled with self-respect and equal justice.
Thereafter he started organizing the Mallars and other Backward Class people in Tamil Nadu towards attaining self-respect. But before he could make much headway, he was murdered on 11 th September, 1957 by the agents of caste culture. During the Ramnad riots, a worst of its kind, a series of politically motivated violent clashes took place between July and September, 1957, just a month before the 1957 election to the Lok Sabha. In the election, Thevar community as a whole supported the forward block led by Muthuramalingam Thevar and the because of this, the Mallar and other Backward Communities supported the Congress party. Ironically, the SC/ST/OBC communities failed to read the conspiracy game hatched by the Congress, and paid a heavy price on September 11, 1957, as the 33-year-old Emmanuelsekaran, the leader of Scheduled Caste Congress delegation was murdered at the peace conference in Paramkudi.
When, Shaheed Emmanuel Sekaran served in the Army with Sant Bantaram Ghera, Founder, All India Adi Dharam Mission Panjab. They two were close friends. Because of the caste discrimination in the military, the two decided to resign from the military and work for the socially oppressed community. Shaheed Emmanuel Sekaran decided to work for social liberation in Tamil Nadu. Sant Bantaram Ghera decided to do their socio-cultural work at Punjab. They did their work until the end of life as they decided.
On the anniversary of Shaheed Immanuel's birthday, Every Year under the leadership of Sant Satwinder Singh Heera, the national president of the All India Adi dharam Mission of Punjab have been celebrating the occasion with great gratitude.
Similarly, over 1000 persons from the Punjab, every year come to the memorial place of Saheed Immanuel Sekaran at Paramakudi, Tamilnadu to pay their tribute of his great soul. Though he is no more, Maveeran Emmanuelsekaran is revered as a Liberation icon and a source of political empowerment by all the Scheduled Caste people and Socially Backward Classes, and remembered as a the one who fought against the atrocities unleashed by caste culture and treated at a par with Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. Therefore, on 11 September every year, as a mark of gratitude and respect, lakhs of people from all over Tamil Nadu mostly from among the Mallars visit his Memorial at Paramkudi in Ramnadu district, to derive inspiration to carry forward the legacy of Maveeran Emmanuelsekaran in their arduous struggle live a dignified life with SELF RESPECT.


Jeevan Kumar Malla
National President, Bahujan Dravida Party
New Delhi
9442608416

In a male dominated (i.e. brahminical patriarchal society), Scheduled Caste women suffered unimaginable oppressions, not only through caste but gender too. Our great ancestors of the Bahujan Movement have given voices to liberate the women from these atrocities and humiliation. But the laws in the Manusmriti and other brahminical scriptures close all the economic, social, political and other channels through which Scheduled Castes women could be uplifted. After the Independence of India, Dr.Baba Saheb Ambedkar wrote many books and articles for the liberal rights of the women. He wanted to liberate the Indian women from this system through Hindu Code Bill. But Nehru and his Congress vehemently opposed this Bill. That was the reason why Baba Saheb Ambedkar resigned from the Cabinet.
In the History of India, there were many Scheduled Castes women leaders who fought for the liberation of the oppressed women. One among such women leader is the “Real Iron Lady Phoolan Devi”. We painfully remember the Militant Symbol of Women Rights, Ms Phoolan Devi’s Fiftieth (50 th ) Birth Anniversary on August 10 th 2013. Every Bahujan woman must learn the meaning of courage from her. She was born on August 10 th 1963 to a poor lower caste Mallah family in Uttar Pradesh. She was a victim of caste oppression, discrimination, humiliation and gender exploitation. When she was about 15 years, Ms.Phoolan Devi was gang raped in her home by the ‘upper caste’ village leader in front of her parents watching, and soon after the incident, police at Kalpi (U.P.) Jail did the same thing to humiliate her. After, she has tolerated extreme caste and gender oppression and sexual abuse under the domination of brahminical landowners and the state. She formed an army of Mallahs against brahminical Caste System. She became the subject of great fame throughout India.
In the year 1981, Ms Phoolan Devi came to the International attention. As a leader of a gang, who allegedly killed 22 ‘upper caste’ men in a village of UP (better known as Behmai massacre). This was the “greatest example of Dalit upsurge in Modern Indian History”. After this massacre, Police launched a huge manhunt using helicopters and thousands of men to catch her. But because of the lakhs of poor Bahujan Peoples’ support, the police was not able to capture her. Finally, the police and government decided to negotiate and a deal was made with her that she and her gang members would not face the death penalty. As a part of arrangement, Ms. Phoolan Devi surrendered in 1983 and served 11 years in jail without trial in prison. Ms Phoolan Devi was released in 1994, she became a Politician and converted to Buddhism. After she came out from the prison, in 1995, she launched “Eklavya Sena” a group that was aimed at teaching Bahujan’s men and women “the art of Self-Defence”.
Ms Phoolan Devi wanted to fight for women rights by legal means, she said “I am Serious, I have not been able to do anything in the Parliament for women because I am always running off to the courts to face my reopened cases by these ‘upper caste’ people. These ‘upper caste’ people are unable to tolerate me to see as a Member of Parliament. What kind of justice is this? They are after me because I am a Dalit, that too, a woman. I made a mistake when I surrendered to the Government. I took revenge against torture and injustice not against men but against anti-social and anti women goondas. Then she explained- “But I am still enraged when women come to me and say they have been raped and the police will not do anything against these men.
In 1998, Ms Phoolan Devi attended and addressed the First World Dalit Convention held in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). During that time, a western journalist asked about being raped. She replied that “you can call it rape in your fancy language. Do you have any idea what it’s like to live in a village in India? What you call rape? That kind of thing happens to Scheduled Caste women in the Indian Village every day. It is assumed that the daughter of Scheduled Castes are for the use of the ‘upper castes’. They are assuming that we are their property. In the Scheduled Caste villages there are no toilets, so we must go to the fields, and the moment we arrive, these ‘upper caste’ man lay us there. We are considered the property of these ‘upper caste’. They would not let us live in peace. You will never understand what kind of humiliation that is. If they wanted to rape us, to molest us and our family objected, they rape us in front of our families.” That time, the international press gave a lot importance to her statement. Some of the Members of British Parliament even nominated her name for Nobel Peace Prize. Even though she was an illiterate, she lived with the principle and the philosophy of Ambedkarism. She honestly fought for the liberation of the Bahujan Community, especially women. She started the path of revolution at the age of 15 years. 11 years she was in Jail, remaining 6 to 8 years only she worked for the oppressed and exploited. The evil brahminical forces were unable to stand before her sincerity, courage and commitment to Bahujan cause. They planned and got here murdered on July 25 th 2001 in Delhi.
The brahmincal forces are trying to systematically destroy every Bahujan icons in India. Unfortunately, our so called elite persons of SC/ST/OBCs fail to read the mindset of Manuvad and try to justify the game of brahmins fooling our poor people. That’s why, our Bahujan people have been continuously facing discrimination and humiliation all over the country. In the last 100 years, great leaders have come and passed away, but our slavery remains.
The life and struggles of “IRON LADY” Phoolan Devi would continue to inspire coming generations of Bahujan Samaj to keep the flag of revolt against brahminical caste system till the oppressed and exploited regain their lost rights and self-respect. This would be the most befitting tribute to this symbol of women’s liberation in modern India.

Even as a child, the family found in him, a rebellious spirit. At School he questioned the authorities when he saw prejudiced treatment meted out to his fellow students especially from the marganilaised sections. This rebellious spirit, that lay like a hearth inside him, blazed into furious flames during his college days and lead him to think out of some way that could better the lot of the broke, muted and maimed subaltern groups. The heart that was throbbing out of agony, looking at the tentacles of miseries that were swallowing his people, let its blood in donation more than 30 times. 
The leader inside him quickly made him realise the power of many hands and he campaigned an awareness among college students in and around Tuticorin District, Tamilnadu.
As he matured into manhood, his perception of the society and the marginalised segment took a multi-dimensional turn. The intensive reading on various leaders who worked for the betterment of the society and his own observations of the society through practically living with and amongst the marginalised segments made him think.  He knew he had greater responsibilities to shoulder.
It was about this time that he got the opportunity to meet Mr.Henry Tephen, the then Director of the popular Human Rights organisation - People’s Watch. This meeting had a remarkable influence on him and he began working as an Activist who went around the nooks and corners of South Tamilnadu, championing the cause of Human Rights, particulary for the marginalised.
As a Human Rights Activist, he conducted many agitation against the violation of Human Rights. He took part in many
Campaigns which also include:
Campaign Against Torture
Campaign on Save River Tamiraparani
Campaign against Alchoholism
Anti Coca Cola Campaign
Campaign on right to vote
Amidst his multifarious activities that incarnated as showers of rain to the parched throats of the people at the grassroot level, he organised a long continious Fasting to redeem the Separate
Panchayat of Eruvapapuram.  This intense struggle went on for 502 days.
Mr Jeevan Kumar led several protests for the land rights of Dalits, Adivasis and Religious Minorities and discrimination, humiliation and atrocities against Dalits and women. Through agitations he has fulfilled few of their demands too. At the same time the government was unable to tolerate his activism so , they registered more than 10 cases against Mr Jeevan. Now he has been acquitted from all the cases. It was during these days that he learnt the power of Politics. It dawned on him that:- 1. Power alone can destroy the power 2. Political power is the master key to open any lock.
He has rooted on the principles of Periyar's social justice and rationality. Later he was inspired by Manyawar Kanshiram’s Social Transformation and Economical Emancipation ideology. we all know that Manywar Kanshiram ji was brought up from the school of Anandpur Sahib, Punjab. He was the only political leader in India, who openly declared in the Indian parliament that Guru Grant sahib is our party manifesto.
In 2001, Mr Jeevan Kumar went along with some dalit activists to meet Manyawar Kanshiram, but his fellow tamil assitant denied to meet Manyawar Kanshiram. Mr Jeevan Kumar’s mind filed with the thought of Kanshiram’s ideology. Eventhough he started his social political work among the SC/ST/OBC and Religious Minorities.
In 2009, on behalf of Bahujan Samaj Party, Mr Jeevan Kumar contested parliementry election at Tuticorin parliementry Constituency, Tamilnadu. In 2014, to Save the Kanshiram’s Bahujan Movement, he contested the Parliementry election in the year 2014 at Bothogi constituency, Uttrapradesh. In 2019, He contested against Mr Modi at Varnasi, due to Manuvad’s Conspiracy, his nomination file was rejected. But Mr Jeevan Kumar immediately filed the case against the election commission for the cancellation of his nomination. As a dutiful representative of the sons of this soil, he, conducted Kanshiram Sandesh yathra to create awareness of Kanshiram and his messages. It was a 3500 kilometre cycle yathra. He stayed in villages and ate the food provided by the village people. HIs next yathra was Prabutha Bharath yathra. This yathra he started from Erode the birth place of Periyar to dessiminate the message of Thanthai Periyar.
Time unfolded to him to sit with other OBC party leaders for political amalgamation of all the communities except Brahmins. A leader is distinguished from a boss by his attitude. While a boss says- “Work!”, a leader would say -“Let’s work”. In this respect, any person who has met Mr. Jeevan Kumar in person would vouch that he is a “Let’s work!” man, to the core. This hard-working man has been a resource tank of information, innovation and inspiration to many, particularly youngsters. He believes in promoting the cadres and leaders too. Brimming with a never-say-die spirit, this down-to-the- earth youth seems to be aligning a billion subaltern’s voice when he confidently says:
“Very soon, majority (Ruling Class) will sit in both - the Parliement and the Legislative Assembly to demolish the existing Caste Sysem”.
In 2019, Mr Jeevan Kumar started the political party named BAHUJAN DRAVIDA PARTY along with his fellow followers. At present the party is getting rooted throughout the nation with staunch support of Kanshiramists.
After Manyawar demise, Mr Jeevan Kumar is the only person in India carrying his caravan where Manyawar left. He has been intensively doing campaign for the political emancipation of the non-brahmins in India to create an egalitarian society.

HIS VISION CONTINUES…

He later became known as "Periyar" which means "one respected “in Tamil.. E.V. Ramasamy's father arranged for a wedding when he was nineteen years old. His bride, Nagammai, was only age of 13. His first wife, Nagammai, died in 1933. E.V. Ramasamy was married for the second time in July 1948. His second wife is Maniammai,Periyar had attended school for five years. At a young age, he began to question the contradictions in the stories of Hindu mythology. As Periyar grew, he felt that people use religion as a mask to deceive innocent people and therefore he decided that one task he would definitely do in life would be to warn people against superstition and Brahmin priests. Periyar started his political career as a Congress worker in his hometown Erode. He quarreled with Gandhi over the question of separate dining for Brahmin and non- Brahmin students at Gurukkulam, a Congress-sponsored school owned by nationalist leader V S Iyer in Cheranmahadevi near Tirunelveli.
Gandhi proposed a compromise, arguing that while it may not be a sin for a person not to dine with another, he would rather respect their principles. During this time Justice Party was also emerged. In 1917, in a manifesto released by Justice Party, it has been mentioned that out of 171 persons who had been selected for Madras provincial civil service, 100 were brahmins.
In the same way, out of 273 persons who had been selected for Madras members of subordinate service, 165 were brahmins. In jail department, the persons selected were 277 out of which 190 were brahmins. In the education department, the total persons selected were 515, out of which 365 were Brahmins. In 1920, 16 persons had been selected in a competitive examination for civil service out of which 15 were brahmins. Five High Court judges were appointed and all of them were brahmins. Out of the 128 district munsifs appointed, 93 were brahmins. The congress failed to addressed these issues in their party. So Periyar resigned from the party in 1925, and associated himself with the Justice Party and the Self Respect Movement, which opposed the dominance of Brahmins in social life, especially the bureaucracy.
The Justice Party had a decade earlier advocated reservation for non-Brahmins in the bureaucracy and, after coming to power in the Madras Presidency, issued an order to implement it.
Periyar’s Struggle…
During this time, Periyar’s fame spread beyond the Tamil region during the Vaikom Satyagraha, a mass movement to demand that lower caste persons be given the right to use a public path in front of the famous Vaikom temple. Periyar took part in the agitation with his wife, and was arrested twice. He would later be referred to as VaikomVeerar (Hero of Vaikom). Vaikom is not a part of Tamilnadu. It is a part of Kerela.
Periyar protests against Brahminism/Hinduism by breaking the Brahminical idol of Ganesha – “Elephant Headed god” on Buddha Purnima, 1953 Women played an unprecedented role in the Vaikom Satyagraha, with the large-scale participation of women being witnessed for the first time during the Satyagraha, marking the passage of women into the socio-political consciousness of the country.
Periyar advised the women of Tamil Nadu to cut their long hair, make it Bob Cut and women should stop wearing Sarees i.e., Dress up like a man (unisex dress code) and consistently argued for the equal rights of women in marriage, the inheritance of property and civic life in general. He fought for women's rights and self-respect in marriage. He said the concept of marriage was introduced in ancient times to make a woman slave to a man. If marriage had to take place, he called for it to be simple, ideally a registered wedding.
In 1926 when the resolution was passed that all the Untouchables should convert to Islam. The people became frightened so Periyar asked them since they were hesitant to convert to Islam at least they should call themselves Non- Hindu When someone asked Dr. Ambedkar why you don't come to Tamilnadu that much...? Ambedkar replied saying, "Periyar is doing my work...what I am doing in north India...he is doing the same in South India." In 1970 under pressure from Periyar, CM Karunanidhi passed an act in the TN assembly. The act said that any person from any caste can become temple archaka. Even those temples which head hereditary priests were abolished. SC cancelled this act. Periyar was pained by the verdict In 1943 debate on Kamba Ramayana, Anna said Ramayana is the story of victory of Brahmins on Dravidians. Periyar said Ramayana should be burnt. Rama not to be worshiped and Ravena’s Effigy not to be burnt. In 1974, a year after Periyar's death, Tamil Nadu witnessed its first Ravena Leela. He argued that caste was imported to the Tamil region by Aryan Brahmins, who spoke Sanskrit and came from Northern India.
In the 1930s, when the Congress Ministry imposed Hindi, he drew a parallel with the Aryanisation process, and claimed it was an attack on Tamil identity and self-respect. Under his leadership, the Dravidian Movement became a struggle against caste and an assertion of Tamil national identity. In the 1940s, Periyar launched Dravidar Kazhagam, which espoused an independent Dravida Nadu comprising of Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, and Kannada speakers. The Dravidian linguistic family was the foundation on which he based his idea of a Dravida National Identity.
Here the questions arise as to who are Dravidas…?
For this question we have taken answer from the Anthropologist and socialist Dr Ambedkar. Dr. Ambedkar has clearly given the answer …
NONETHELESS, THESE ARE HISTORICAL TRUTHS. NAGAS AND DRAVIDIANS ARE ONE AND THE SAME PEOPLE.
The word ‘Dravida’ is not an original word. It is the Sanskrit zed form of the word ‘Tamil’. The original word ‘Tamil’ when imported into Sanskrit became ‘Damilla’ and later on ‘Damita’ became Dravida. The word Dravida is the name of the language of the people and does not denote the race of the people.
The Nagas in North India gave up Tamil which was their mother tongue and adopted Sanskrit in its place. The Nagas in South India retained Tamil as their mother tongue and did not adopt Sanskrit the language of the Aryans.
To remember is that Tamil or Dravida was not merely the language of South India but before the Aryans came it was the language of the whole of India and was spoken from Kashmir to Cape Comerin. In fact, it was the language of the Nagas throughout India according to Dr. Ambedkar’s findings.
Why was the Self Respect Movement founded by Periyar? He had given his answer in his newspaper Kudi Arasu…
“The Policy of Self-Respect Movement has been widely accepted in the world. Its significance, objective and implication have also received world-wide consent. Man seeks the source of every concept. He looks for the reason and logical basis for everything. He even probes nature. Unable to understand the concept of his own life, he leads a life of slavery.
Self-Respect Movement expects man to see the rationale behind everything and reject it as unreasonable if it has no logical basis. Our sensible approach would tell us if our action is right or wrong. One has to weigh the pros and cons and respect the final decision it leads him to. This is the characteristic of Self-Respect Movement. It is against accepting anything blindly.
When a man finds his thoughts, actions and decisions are right, he respects it. That is true freedom. There is no difference between freedom and Self-Respect. They are synonymous.
The Self-Respect Movement encouraged inter-caste marriages, replacing arranged marriages by love marriages that are not constrained by caste.
What is Periyar’s Thought...?
For an average Tamilian, Periyar today is an ideology. He stands for a politics that foregrounded social equality, self-respect, and linguistic pride. As a social reformer, he focused on social, cultural and gender inequalities and his reform agenda questioned matters of faith, gender and tradition. He asked people to be rational in their life choices. He argued that women needed to be independent, not mere child-bearers, and insisted that they be allowed an equal share in employment. The Self Respect Movement that he led promoted weddings without rituals, and sanctioned property as well as divorce rights for women.
He appealed to people to give up the caste suffix in their names, and to not mention caste. He instituted inter-dining with food cooked by Dalits in public conferences in the 1930s. Over the years, Periyar has transcended the political divide as well as the fault lines of religion and caste, and come to be revered as Thanthai Periyar, the father figure of modern Tamil Nadu. When you read the thoughts of Periyar, you will know how his thoughts resemble the enlightened one...the Buddha, like Santa Kabir Das, like Osho Buddhism teaches us of the importance of living in the present. His thought about Buddha is when Periyar participated in a function to celebrate the 2501 st birth anniversary of the Buddha at Maha Bodhi Sangham at Egmore. Chennai on 15 th may 1957. When Periyar talks about rishis, he actually opposed the rishis and that is why he celebrated Buddha Purinima and acknowledged Buddha’s work. When Periyar talks about Buddha’s teachings and principles he refers to them as things of tremendous value to us for our revolutionary purposes. Buddha is ordinarily taken to refer to a person. Buddha means buddhi or intelligence. Anyone who uses his intelligence is a Buddha. All people are endowed with intelligence but only those who use it intelligently can be Buddhas. The word siddha conveys a similar meaning. Siddha is one who controls his sense. God Vishnu is the centre for vaishnavism, but for Buddhism buddhi or intellect is the centre. Here we have to look at Periyar as a Buddha, not a Siddha. When he talks about Indian history, he asserts that there is no evidence of Hindutva identity… all the identity of the governing ancestors in India is related to Buddhism, in Periyar’s view.
The Buddhist symbol of the Dharma Chakra has found an honoured place in our national flag. The Asoka Pillar at Saranat consisting of the four lions has been adopted as our national, architectural symbol and this has become the emblem adorns the shoulders of all our military officers, the bonnets of all our ministers’ state cars and the post cards of everyday use in the remotest villages. Since independence, Buddha’s birth anniversary has been declared a public holiday. What does all this mean...? it means that the government of free India has accepted the Buddha and his teachings. It has not been possible for the government to adopt any Hindu symbol as the national symbol. This also means that Hindu symbols are unfit for all – India National purposes.
If all of us can adopt the thoughts of Periyar, then we have to make sure that caste oppression is cremated. Yes, the struggle against economic oppression and the struggle against caste oppression should be happen simultaneously…. How…? Manyawar Kanshiram is the only answer to this question. That answer is - We need to become the ruling class if we want to form a casteless society. Then only we can see socio equity in our land. But in Tamilnadu, where Periyar led an uncompromising struggle against casteism, where his followers ruled the state for the last more than 40 years since 1967, the bitter truth is that casteism has still not been rooted out. Why? - because the so-called-Periyarists are not ready to work for social transformation. Still, they wanted to sustain their movement on the basis of no–result-giving ‘social justice’.
In the name of Periyar... the followers of the so-called caste Hindus are sharpening their caste and sub-caste clashes among the SC/ST/ people. The cruelty of untouchability exists in the state and even certain followers of Periyar are supporting the brutality of caste system. This so called Periyar party workers scream bout social justice in public forums, TV programmes, Twitter pages and YouTube videos but when they come to power, they always stand by the dominant caste and make things worse.
If we ask the present youth about Dravida party, their answer is that there is no big difference between Periyar party activists and Hindutva party activists. Why do you think the youngsters have started feeling like this? - because the Periyarists do not practise the ideological action of Periyarism. That's why the present generations are moving towards Hindutva parties. Now, this is a very huge danger to the Bahujan Dravida Samaj. We must put an end to this dangerous mindset at the earliest. The sooner, the better.
The biggest question before us now is ...What should we do?. What is the correct collective action that we should take ? For the last half an hour I have talked about Periyar…his thoughts and his actions during his life time...Now, what should we do ...? According to my understanding… What is needed here is the work of Kanshiramism rather than Periyarism. Periyar's movement is the Movement for social justice, Whereas, Kanshiram’s movement is the movement for social transformation. If the oppressed people are to live freely with equality and brotherhood, we must continue to carry on work of Manyawar Kashiramji’s works of social transformation and economic emancipation. The struggle for social justice will not be needed if social change takes place. So, BE THE CAUSE OF THAT SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION AND JOIN HANDS IN OUR STRUGGLE FOR CREATING A SOCIALLY JUST SOCIETY.
Jai bhim… Jai Bharat… Jai Periyar… Jai Kanshiram…!!!

Even though he was born among the low caste background, he pursued a bachelor’s degree in science from the Government College at Ropar (Punjab).
After he completed his degree, Manyavar Kanshi Ram joined as the research staff of Kirki’s Explosive Research and Development Laboratory (ERDL) in Pune 1957. While working in Pune, he quit his job after becoming involved in the famous Deena Bhan case. Shri Deena Bhan, a Rajasthani Scheduled Caste employee and senior colleague of Manyavar Kanshi Ram was suspended.
His fault was that he protested against the decision of ERDL management for the cancellation of holidays for Baba Sahib Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and Lord Buddha Jayantis and their replacement by the Tilak Jayanti and one additional holiday for Diwali. Manyavar Kanshi Ram decided to fight against such a caste ridden and dictatorial behavior of the management. The fighter in Manyavar Kanshi Ram got the suspension orders of Shri Deena Bhan revoked and Dr. Ambedkar and Lord Buddha Jayantis holidays were restored.
This was the beginning of the long battle for the emancipation of the Bahujan Dravida in the country that Manyavar Kanshi Ram had to lead till his last breath. He resigned from his job and totally dedicated his entire life for the cause of the Bahujan Dravida community. He never married nor visited his home since then. His struggle was not for the home and family. He devised a new strategy to regain the lost glory of the original (Adi) inhabitants of Bharat (India). . He was the first person expanded the scheduled castes circle into Bahujan community by incorporating other Backward Classes and Minorities into it.
In the mid-1960s, Manyavar Kanshi Ram began to organize Scheduled Caste Government Employees to fight against what he saw as the deeply entrenched prejudice of higher caste peoples. It was around this time that he decided that he would not marry and dedicate his life to the cause of Bahujan Samaj Empowerment. Finally he decided to play a crucial role in the politics of the country.
The result was, Manyavar Kanshi Ram launched his first organisation on December 6th, 1978: All India Backward (SC, ST, OBC) and Minority Communities’ Employees’ Federation, popularly known as BAMCEF. Three years later, on December 6th 1981, Manyavar Kanshi Ram found another organisation: DS-4 (Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti) and on April 14th, 1984, Manyavar Kanshi Ram announced the formation of the Bahujan Samaj Party (the Common Man’s Party). As a politician, he became very popular among his people, who found a new hope and vision in his style of functioning and sincerity.
Suddenly he became a national figure. He was a master strategist and a meticulous organiser. He used his strengths to carve out a niche for Dalits. This was done by deploying an often combative and aggressive strategy, with virulent attacks on other political parties which he claimed only represented the interests of higher caste Hindus. He was sharply different from other politicians of the mainstream. He used to communicate before he spoke.
In 1996 Manyavar Kanshi Ram elected to the Lok Sabha from the Hoshiarpur constituency, from where 50 years ago Great Ghadri Baba Babu Mangu Ram Mugowalia Ji founder of the “Ad Dharm Movement” had been returned to the Punjab assembly in 1946. Interestingly, it was at Hoshiarpur, the strong hold of “Ad Dharm”, that the BSP celebrated the 75th year of the “Ad Dharm Movement” on February 18th, 2001 . On this occasion Sahib Shri Kanshi Ram Ji exhorted the Bahujan Samaj to follow the principles of the “Ad Dharm Movement” of which the BSP has now become the torch-bearer.
He was one of the few great leaders of Independent India who actually expanded the limits of narrow politic of Dalit. His political vision was never confined to Scheduled Castes only, as is often thought about him. All of the political organisations he founded were meant for the downtrodden of all sorts – SC, ST, OBC and Minorities. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was the one who took a lead in making Indian democracy more competitive and practically open to the Bahujan Dravida Community in India.
There have been two types of grassroots revolutions which took place in India. One is the Dalit revolution and the other is the Bahujan revolution.
The Dalit revolution was the voice of the rights of the downtrodden people, who are facing atrocities and discrimination in india in the name of caste the second one is The Bahujan revolution which was a struggle to seize the ruling power from the hands of microscope community in india. This Bahujan revolution was introduced by Manyawar Kanshiram. We the people of Native Indians had chosen the pathway shown by Manyawar Kanshiram. His foot path is called as the kanshiramism. Kanshiramism ideology transformed the people who were only asking for reservation rights to think to become rulers.
Kanshiram who qualified the struggle for self-rule from the struggle of self-respect, we call this as Kanshiramism.
It was Kanshiram who taught the leaders of the liberation movement to inculcate qualities like simplicity, poverty, sacrifice, determination, humility, contribution and participation, and this is called as Kanshiramism.
It was Kanshiram who taught the socially, economically and culturally crippled people of India that "yes - we can" and Kanshiram proved it, that’s what we call kanshiramism.
The majority people of India did not know politically principled enemy. Kanshiram was the one who taught, Aryans as enemies and Dravidians as friends politically, this is what we call Kanshiramism
Kanshiram was the one who identified Aryanism as autocracy and Dravidianism as democracy, and this is what we call Kanshiramism.
He said to end the politics of succession, he also waged a war for it and ended it, this is what we call Kanshiramism.
It was Kanshiram who said, fight and win so that your enemy does not rise again, and this is what we call Kanshiramism
Kanshiramism goes on and on…
Manu gave a philosophy to enslave the people.
But
Kanshiram has given us a philosophy, that philosophy is like Guru Granth Sahib. Kanshiramism is a philosophy that has been developed by considering the ideas of Bahujan Dravida enlightened gurus and bhagats in India.
Kanshiramism is the only way to politically unite a socially fractured people with a sense of brotherhood.
Finally I want to say you that the goal of Kanshiramism is that… The goal of the kanshiramism is our country should be ruled, by the Dravidians, of the Dravidians, for the Dravidians on the land of Dravidians.

“WE DON’T WANT SOCIAL JUSTICE, WE WANT SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION. SOCIAL JUSTICE DEPENDS ON THE PERSON IN THE POWER. SUPPOSE AT ONE TIME, SOME GOOD LEADER COMES TO POWER AND PEOPLE GET SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ARE HAPPY BUT WHEN A BAD LEADER COMES TO POWER IT TURNS INTO INJUSTICE AGAIN. SO, WE WANT WHOLE SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION.”- KANSHIRAM