Has our Dravidar Kazhagam been clearly understood by all the intellectuals of the Dravidian land, the public, young men and women and the students? I am not really sure about it. Some who say they have understood, pretend to be oblivious of it. A few others use their awareness to derive benefits from our opponents. They eke out a living by betraying us and conniving with our rivals. There are others who try to crush us for a reward. They are hand-in-glove with the wicked coteries to annihilate us for a price. These people have been the hurdles to our mission and propaganda. Our policies and principles are unable to swiftly reach people and spread widely everywhere, because of these obstacles.
A massive propaganda Institution
The Dravidar Kazhagam was born in 1925 as Self-Respect Movement, and developed in various forms as a rationalist movement, egalitarian movement, South Indian Welfare Rights Association, etc; Later it existed as the Justice Party and ultimately transformed as the Dravidar Kazhagam as it is widely known today. It is popular now as a massive propaganda institution.
The last twenty six years was a period of inexplicable turbulence and turmoil for us.
We had to face numerous resistance, betrayals, splits, deceptions and struggles in the past. The Dravidar Kazhagam emerged invincible facing all the challenges. Among the people who were with us and earned name and fame, very few remained faithful and loyal. Many of them deserted us after reaping a harvest of benefits. In spite of such disloyal deserters, the Dravidar Kazhagam has been surviving undeterred for more than a quarter century. None could stop its growth or curb its glory. It is a matter of surprise even to me, how it is growing in leaps and bounds, serving society productively and constructively.
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Policies of Dravidar Kazhagam
The Dravidar Kazhagam is an edifice built upon integrity and probity as its foundation stones. Noble policies and principles are its strength. I should explain how we exist as an unparalleled force. The Kazhagam is not a political party craving for posts and positions. It is a movement to reform society in every sphere. As a self-respect movement its objective was to wipe off the ‘Sudhra’ stigma on our people. Its mission was to draw them out from the quagmire of degeneration as low caste people.
Our firmness and consistent efforts helped us succeed to some extent. We believe that we are all equal by birth and hence should die as equals. Our righteousness and truthfulness made us go ahead fearlessly and restlessly on the rough and uneven path. To succeed in our mission we had to probe into concepts like religion, scriptures and god besides stressing the significance of self respect. There were some teething troubles but with the passing of time we earned the trust of the people. They reposed confidence in us and strengthened our hands. We were identified as a noble movement dedicated towards eradicating the social evils like varnashrama, religion, caste and blind belief in a non-existent god. We were recognized as selfless public servants.
Community-wise representation
After achieving our objectives to some extent we strove for community-wise representations and acquired public support. We faced resistance from none as it was for the welfare of the downtrodden and marginalised people.
As the next step, our Dravidar Kazhagam is striving to delink Madras Presidency from the dominating shackles of North Indians in Delhi. We wish to have a totally free autonomous State for ourselves. We try to make people realise its need and importance. The Dravidar Kazhagam is deeply involved in serving the public. Hence, we are confident of achieving even this objective.
Vital principles of Dravidar Kazhagam
We have undertaken social reformation since nobody else came forward. We urge people to conserve their self respect for ever. Since all human beings are equal by birth, no one has to stoop before any one. Our Kazhagam promotes scientific temper and the spirit of inquiry. It is against worshipping a non-existent god. We oppose outdated scriptures and fabricated mythologies. Dravidar Kazhagam strives to eradicate all sorts of blind faith and superstitions. According to us, the adherence to Varnashrama and Manusmriti must be given up by our people.
Dravidar Kazhagam fights for absolute liberation of women followed by their empowerment. It is in favour of equal rights to women in all respects, including divorce and remarriage. The Kazhagam advocates self respect marriages without rituals and the presence of a Brahmin priest. We never forcibly thrust our principles on people. We expect them to analyse on their own and accept them or to reject them if they seem unacceptable. We encourage free thinking and introspection at all times.
Our Kazhagam is always very particular about a rationalist outlook in life. We advise people to stay away from blind faith in outdated and unacceptable concepts in life. We strongly oppose caste based discriminations, untouchability, religious extremism, communal fanaticism and dehumanisation in any form. We strive for equality and universal brotherhood. All these policies and principles have made Dravidar Kazhagam an unparalleled movement.
Absolute selflessness
In our Dravidar Kazhagam we are all absolutely selfless. We never crave for posts or positions in life. We are custodians of social justice. We hate autocratic rulers and dictatorship. We believe in gender justice, human rights and secularism. Our objective is upliftment of socially and educationally backward classes. We wish to form a state of communal harmony and peace.
According to Dravidar Kazhagam, a caste based hierarchical system is a social evil that must perish. Caste system prevents universal brotherhood and the feeling of oneness.In our conference held in 1929 at Chengalpet, we moved many resolutions based on our policies and got them unanimously adopted. We have succeeded to a great extent in practising most of them by appropriate implementation. We still have a long way to go in fulfilling our mission.
Mischief mongers and rivals
Our Dravidar Kazhagam faces a lot of challenges on its path. Trouble makers are bent upon crushing us by their mischief using their money power and some newspapers which support them. We are undeterred. We endure mudslinging and brickbats. Our patience is unswerving and our resolve is unflinching. I urge all the cadres, readers and well wishers to trust us as the only movement for absolute redemption.
‘Viduthalai’ dated 21-11-1951
Translated by: M.R. Manohar
