Self-Respect or the D.K.

Movement

Introduction: In loose and broad terms backward segments of Indian population include the
‘SCs’,’STs’ and ‘OBCs’ and in terms of broader social organization the usual description may
include all the lower castes (backward castes) but in contemporary sociological discourse, the
Dalits and the backward castes (non-untouchable middle castes or lower castes) are dealt with
separately. Thus, usually the Dalit movement includes large untouchable castes and backward
classes movement incorporates the non-untouchable lower castes. In these terms, the movement
of the backward classes/castes has also been described as Non-Brahmin Movements.

Most of the non-Brahmin or backward castes movements occurred in the erstwhile Madras and
Bombay Presidency. The nineteenth century social movements made significant inroads in
Indian society and shook the traditional caste order. Jyotirao Phule of Pune was one of the first to
have revolted against the tyranny of caste in general and of the Brahmins in particular. In 1873
he organized an association called the Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth Seeker’s Association) and
asked his followers not to engage any Brahmin priest. He started schools for the children of non-
Brahmin castes. (Omvedt, 1971). While Phule started the non-Brahmin movement in
Maharashtra and mobilized the Malis (gardener caste), it was Sahuji Maharaj of Kolhapur who
injected new life in the movement by advocating the right of communal representation. He may
be regarded as the chief architect of an anti-Brahmin ideology. Though the seeds of the non-
Brahmin movement had been sown, it took a systematically organized form only in 1920s in the
Madras Presidency where the South Indian Liberal Federation popularly called as Justice Party
was formed in 1916. It formulated the Non-Brahmin’s Manifesto directed against the dominance
of Brahmins in the fields of education, public service and politics. It is important to note here
that the upper non-Brahmin castes such as the Vellalars, Naidus, Nayars, Mudaliars, etc. took a
lead in building up an anti-Brahmin ideology and organization to subvert Brahmin dominance.
While the conflict between the Brahmins and the upper caste non-Brahmins became the center of
anti-Brahmin movements, the conflict between the upper non-Brahmin castes and the lower non-
Brahmin but non-untouchable castes gave birth to a number of social movements in different
parts of India. Four such movements with different ideological overtones are: the Yadava
movement, the Vannikula Kshatriya movement, the Nadar movement and the Self-Respect or
D.K. Movement.

Self-Respect movement is a movement with the aim of achieving a society where backward
castes have an equal rights and encouraging backward castes to have self-respect in the context
of a caste based society that considered them to be the lower end of hierarchy. It was founded in
1925 by E.V.Ramaswamy Naicker or Periyar in Tamil Nadu against Brahmanism. It was not
only influential in Tamil Nadu, but also overseas in countries with large Tamil populations, such
as Malaysia and Singapore. Among Singapore Indians, groups like Tamil Reform Association
and leaders like Thamizhavel G. Sarangapani were prominent in promoting principles of self-
respect movement among local Tamil population through Schools and Publications. A number of
political parties in Tamil Nadu such as DMK and AIADMK owe their origin to self-respect
movement.

Principles of Self-Respect Movement

Periyar was conceived that if man developed self-respect, he would automatically develop
individuality and would refuse to be led by the schemers. He quotes, “We are fit to think of self-
respect only when the notion of superior and inferior castes is banished from our land. “He
described it as a movement to liberate the intellect.

Main principles of self-respect movement in society were to be:

 No kind of inequality among people.

 No differences such as rich and poor in economic life.
 Men and women should be treated as equals in every aspect without differences.
 Attachments to caste, religion, Varna and country to be eradicated from society with a
prevalent friendship and unity around the world.
 With every human being seeking to act according to reason, understanding, desire and
perspective and shall not be subject to slavery of any kind or manner.
 Equality with stress on economic and social equality as the central theme of the
movement.
 Anti-Brahminist in character; especially against Tamil Brahmins (Iyers and lyengars)
 Self-respect marriage system without a Brahmin priest. Self-respect movement
encouraged inter-caste marriages, replacing arrange marriages by love marriages that are
not constrained by caste.
 It attracted a lot of women because of stress on widow remarriages through this
movement.
 The principal objective of Naicker was to remove all superstitious beliefs based on
religions. No member was allowed to wear any religious mark on the forehead. He called
upon the non-Brahmin community to boycott Brahmins at ceremonies. The idols of the
Hindu deities such as Rama, Ganesha, Krishna, etc. were deliberately destroyed and the
Ramayana and other Sanskrit epics were distorted to the political ends of the Dravida
Kazagam. The glories of the Tamil kingdom were hailed as peaks in the cultural history
of India, and the culture of the ancient Aryans was belittled as barbarian in comparison
to the splendor and richness of Dravidian tradition and Tamil culture.
 Tamil Nadu became the first and the only state to legalize Hindu marriages conducted
without a Brahmin priest. Hindu Marriage (Madras Amendment) Act, 1967 introduced
Section 7A, introducing self-respect and reformist marriages as legal. It’s all because of
the clear stand of self-respect movement on marriages.
 Self-Respect Movement was designed to improve the living conditions of the Dravidian
people, to expose the Brahmin tyranny, and the deceptive methods by which they
controlled all spheres of Hindu life. Periyar organized the “Dravida Nadu Conference”
for the advocacy of a separate and independent “Dravida Nation”. The demand was
reiterated the following year in response to the Lahore resolution passed by the Muslim
League demanding the creation of Pakistan. Naicker supported the creation of Pakistan
and tried to enlist the support of the Muslim League for the creation of the “Dravida
Nation”. The basic presupposition of the movement towards a separate nation was that
the Dravidian non-Brahmin peoples were of different racial stock and culture from that
of the Aryan Brahman.
 In 1944, Naicker founded the Dravida Kazagham and asked the members to wear black
shirts whenever possible to symbolize the present day downtrodden condition of the
Dravidians. The organization of the party was to be based upon units in each village,
taluq and district. The main objective of the Dravida Kazagham was proclaimed to be the
achievement of a sovereign, independent Dravidian Republic Federal in nature with four
units representing the linguistic division, each division having residuary power and the
autonomy in the matter of internal administration. It would be an egalitarian society to
which the depressed and downtrodden could pledge allegiance. Naicker called upon the
people to renounce all the titles conferred upon them by the British. This increased the
Dravida Kazagham’s popularity among the masses.

Conclusion: In 1949, the movement suffered a split with Annadurai forming the Dravida
Munnetra Kazagam (D.M.K.) with active support from Karunanidhi, Natarajan, and
Sampath. Through its organization and conferences, the D.M.K. at its inception, had
aimed at building a mass party. The Dravidian movement which started out as a
movement for the upliftment of Adi-Dravida and the Dalits, later got involved in active
politics, and DMK became a political entity with a massive following of backward
classes and Dalits in Tamil Nadu. In 1972, there led a further drift in DMK party and a
new party called, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam (A.I.A.D.M.K.) was
formed with its prominent leader, Jayalalita. Both these parties run on populist
tendencies with focus on socialist democratic revolution. But in reality, they have
become champions of co-captive politics with vested interests. So a movement which
started out in the initial phase with an independent forum, later on become political
parties joining upper caste nationalist parties.