A short history of the demand for ‘Dravida Nadu’, its evolution
- July 7, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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A short history of the demand for ‘Dravida Nadu’, its evolution
Subject: History
Section: Modern
Context: DMK MP A Raja recently brought back into focus ‘Dravida Nadu’ or the idea of a separate Tamil Nadu, in the presence of CM MK Stalin
The demand for Dravida Nadu
- The early 20th century agitations against the colonial government of Madras state (of which, along with Tamil Nadu, portions of modern-day Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala were part) often included expressions of regional aspirations
- The South Indian Liberal Federation, popularly known as Justice Party, which was founded in 1917 by Sir PittiTheagaraya Chetty, Dr T M Nair, and Dr C NatesaMudaliar, was the first to raise the flag of anti-Brahminism, and oppose the caste system that put Brahmins at the top of the social hierarchy
- In 1920, the Justice Party won the first legislative council elections held under the Government of India Act, 1919, and formed the government
- Periyar, the founder of the Self-Respect Movement (1925), was both anti-caste and anti-religion.
- He envisaged an independent Dravida homeland of Dravida Nadu, comprising Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada speakers, and launched a political party, DravidarKazhagam (DK), to pursue this goal
- He advocated major social reforms, including equality for women in society, and supporting birth control for women for their health and well-being.
- He also opposed the domination of Hindi and emphasised the distinct cultural identity of the Tamil nation.
- In 1938, the Justice Party and Self-Respect Movement came together, representing the merger of the party and the movement
- In 1944, the new outfit was named DravidarKazhagam. DK was anti-Brahmin, anti-Congress, and anti-Aryan and launched a movement for an independent Dravida nation.
- DK continued to demand Dravida Nadu and Periyar refused to contest elections. In 1949, Annadurai split from Periyar due to ideological differences, and his DMK joined the electoral process. The DMK’s platforms were social democracy and Tamil cultural nationalism.
Linguistic nationalism
- The Linguistic Provinces Commission (or S K Dhar Commission) set up in 1948 argued against a linguistic basis of reorganisation of states, reasoning it could lead to further division
- In 1952, the freedom fighter Potti Sriramulu died at the end of a 56-day hunger strike undertaken to demand a separate Telugu state.
- In1953, the States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) was constituted under Justice Fazl Ali, historian K M Panikkar, and parliamentarian H N Kunzru.
- The report of the commission was in favour of a linguistic division of states; however, it cautioned that “It is neither possible nor desirable to reorganise the State on the basis of a single test of either language or culture
- The States Reorganization Act, 1956, which incorporated some of the suggestions of the SRC, redrew the boundaries of states along linguistic lines, and created the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Mysore and Kerala in southern India