Periyar remained unperturbed throughout his life, facing boldly all the rivals who had been against his movements, ideals, policies and principles. He classified his opponents into eight groups and wrote about them in his editorial in ‘Kudi Arasu’ weekly (04.09.1932). Let us see what he says about those eight obstacles:
Since I started the self-respect movement, corrupt people in the State have been protesting against our movement, ideals, policies and principles because our people are alert and cautious now. They are closely watching our rivals who are not able to exploit any longer. I classify my opponents into eight groups that are now the obstacles on our path. We have to remove these eight hurdles using our wisdom and unswerving patience. People behind each obstacle are those who are unable to exploit the people who are now quite alert and cautious. The corrupt people keep hatching plans to crush our movements but they can never harm us. Our people have begun to use their ability to reason. Their rational outlook and the spirit of enquiry pose severe threat to all our rivals but we are invincible.
The eight kinds of rivals opposing our movements are –
i) political leaders
ii) spiritual leaders
iii) brahmin priests
iv) book-sellers
v) publishers of religious periodicals
vi) temple trustees
vii) heads of theist centers and
viii) playwrights and dramatists
1) Political leaders:
They are against us because we have been removing their masks and enabling people to see their true colours. We have been exposing their wicked ploys and strategic games in politics. We have been stressing that they are vote-hunters, craving for posts and positions by a win in elections. We have revealed that they are religious fanatics and caste promoters, least bothered about eradicating the discriminations among humans. We made people realise that their outward appearances are deceptive and they want downtrodden people to exist as their slaves for ever. Our movements have unmasked these hypocrites who exploit others for their own survival. Under the garb of politics they eke out a living in an unabashed manner. Naturally, they are against us because their existence and survival are threatened by our noble movements. It is quite funny that they look at us as an obstacle when they themselves are a major obstacle for us.
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2) Spiritual leaders
Let us see why they are scared of us and what makes them hinder our journey. These spiritual leaders have mastered all the outdated scriptures and ancient mythologies. They have chewed and digested fabricated fables like Ramayana and Mahabharata. They are soaked in Vedas, Agamas and Manusmriti etc; They are hairbrained morons who cannot think freely on their own. Without using their ability to reason these pseudo-scholars blindly believe what was told and written many centuries ago.
These spiritual leaders believe in heaven and hell. They follow meaningless codes of conduct and impose them on us. They threaten people that violation of all those codes of conduct is an unpardonable sin and that those who violate them would be roasted alive in hell. Gullible people call these people “erudite scholars” and fail to question them.
These spiritual leaders have been robbing common people of their hard earned money as the price of their discourses. They deliver long speeches on Varnashrama and collect contributions from the listeners. By the impact of our movements, all those outdated scriptures have lost their sheen. False codes of conduct are no longer believed. The survival of these spiritual leaders has become difficult by the effect of our self-respect movement. The so called spiritual leaders now fear the agony of starvation and disgrace in society. It is not a matter of surprise therefore that they are against our movements. It is caused by their survival-instinct.
3) Brahmin Priests
These religious fanatics imposed meaningless rituals and orthodox conventions on credulous people who have been blindly following them for centuries. Brahmin priests are lethargic morons. They hardly work but torture people who work hard. They too do it only for their survival. Our people remained enslaved, bound by the chains of these brahmin priests. This has been going on for thousands of years in the past. Social reformers in various world countries strove mainly to annihilate the exploitation of these purohits hailing from various religions. They succeeded to a great extent in curbing their dominance. It is a pity that we have not achieved success in our country. The domination of brahmin priests still continues here in the Hindu, Christian and Islamic religions though the Christians call them pastors and the Muslims call them Mullas or Kazis. They are all preachers of religion in common view. Our movements have always been condemning the ploys of such religious priests, exposing their tricks and ploys. Most of the Hindus have started avoiding the presence of brahmin priests. Roman Catholics have begun avoiding pastors and Muslims keep away Mullas. Roman Catholic priests blame our self-respect movement since their survival is threatened. In public meetings they have been abusing us and our movements imagining us as an obstacle for them. Another instance of survival instinct, indeed.
4) Book-Sellers
They are against us because we are against all the rubbish that they print and publish. They keep churning out books on innumerable topics related to religion, scriptures and theism. They sell books on astrology, palmistry, and innumerable books revolving around unscientific superstitious subjects and topics. They use inexpensive paper to print but sell them for a high price, robbing people of their money. Fables about Gods and goddesses and the history of several temples and pilgrimage spots are also published by them to fill their cash boxes. After the establishment of our movement people have almost stopped buying these irrational books. Therefore the publishers, printers and sellers of such books have started attacking our movements.
5) Publishers of religious Periodicals
I would call them print media rivals because they are against our policies and principles. They publish dailies, weeklies, fortnightlies and monthlies churning out articles related to religion, theism, astrology, spirituality etc; There is now a dip in their sales owing to the awareness of people. There are now very few takers for their irrational stuff in print. Hence, they frown at us and protest.
6) Temple trustees
They hate us because we question their maladministration and misuse of temple funds. I would call them the sixth group of rivals. Huge sums of money are collected by them as donations. Philanthropists offer gold, silver and diamond ornaments to adorn idols. Gullible people pour in large sums of money as contributions during their worship. These temple funds can be used for the welfare of people. Temple authorities can build homes for the have nots who languish on sidewalks for want of a shelter. Funds can also be used for health and hygiene as well as improvement of sanitation. A portion of the temple funds can be used for development of education, conservation of environment etc; we have been questioning the misuse of temple funds. Therefore we are seen as their enemies because truth is always unpalatable. Most of the temple administrators have been managing their livelihood generation after generation, using temple funds in an inappropriate manner. Our movements would continue to fight because all the temple trustees are accountable to the Governments elected by the mandate of people.
7) Heads of Theist Centers
Religious centers exist almost in all major cities under the name of “Mutts”. They are functioning through Chief Caretakers or managing spiritual heads. These theist centers have enormous wealth and assets but they do nothing for public welfare. Our people have been the main source of their income but they do not derive any benefit in return.
Religious discourses are held at these centers inviting orators of repute. Unscientific concepts are propagated to spread irrational thoughts. We have been questioning their undesirable activities. Therefore they hatch plans to annihilate our movements. Taking credulous people for a ride under the pretext of religion and spiritualism is unpardonable. This has been our argument for a long period. These theist centers or “mutts” are undeniably an obstacle on our path of social reformations.
8) Playwrights and dramatists
They are in my opinion the eighth group of our obstacles hindering our vision and mission. Stage plays are an effective medium of communication and propaganda. Most of these playwrights stage plays revolving around mythologies and fabricated fables. They fill their cash boxes drawing huge crowd to watch such plays. Under the garb of art, they spread religious concepts too. By the impact of our movements, these days the audience response is poor for their stage plays. They are not able to cover even the advertisement expenses. Naturally, they are now against us.
Summing up
I urge upon all the readers, cadres and well-wishers to make a note of all these eight groups of our opponents and avoid encouraging their activities. They impede our journey and obstruct the achievement of our objectives. By collective efforts we can certainly defeat them.
Kudi Arasu – 4th September 1932
Translated by : M.R. Manohar
