THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Dr K Veeramani turn 93 today
It has been a great privilege to have interviewed Dr K Veeramani several times as well as listened to his impassioned lectures on social justice and humanism. As he turns 93 today on December 2nd, I congratulate him for persistently following the path shown by Thanthai Periyar. Without his deep-rooted involvement in the movement started by legendary Periyar, we would not have heard anything credible. Today, I can say with firm conviction that Dr Veeramani is the greatest living icon of Periyar’s movement. It is therefore extremely important that when we discuss about the revolutionary work of Periyar, we must also now start documenting and analysing the extraordinary work of Dr Veeramani since the inception DK movement.
For me, Dr Veeramani’s life is not just highly inspiring but extremely important as I never saw Periyar or heard him but an interaction with Asiriyar gave me the idea of conviction of Periyar. His deep-rooted convictions stand alone inhe crowd of those who change their colour for the sake of power. He could have become a Member of Parliament, member of certain boards but he decided to completely dedicate his life to the self-respect movement.
Tamilnadu always fascinated me and one reason for it was the ideals and action of Thanthai Periyar but as I ventured to explore more about many of the Dravidian parties, I also found a lot of contradiction in their thoughts. Many of them might have been speaking against ‘brahmanism’ but their own record towards emancipation of caste or respecting the autonomy and identity of the Adi-dravidars remain questionable. It is more complex to understand as why in the land of Periyar, we still have large number of violence against Dalits and cases of untouchability. Many years ago, some brahmins under the garb of Dalit politics targeted Periyar. That was atrocious to say the least as I may agree that many of the Dravidian parties or those who swear in the name of Thanthai Periyar rarely speak about caste discrimination against the Dalits but to blame Periyar whose heroic battle at Vaikum is well known to all, of ignoring the Dalit interest is extremely difficult to digest. When these issues were becoming the talk of the town and many of these ‘experts’ because of their connections in the media were portraying Periyar as an ‘abandoned’ man in Tamilnadu, I look to Dr K Veeramani’s work and writings which has been published by Periyar Thidal. I tried to understand why the Brahmanical elite in Tamilnadu was so obsessed with Periyar and realised that some of them wanted to use Ambedkarism to defame Periyar which was atrocious as in the Bahujan movement as well as Ambedkarite movement all over the country Thanthai Periyar remain one of the most respected icons along with Baba Saheb Phule and Jyoti Ba Phule. Attempt to create division among them are bound to fail as Periyar cannot be held responsible for wrongs done by various Dravidian parties particularly when they ignored the interest of the Dalits or some of them even spoke against inter caste marriages and abrogation of the SC-ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. Tamilnadu still remain an area of concern as far as violence and discrimination against Dalits are concern.
Whenever I have interviewed Asiriyar, he responded to every question and never tried to ignore the question. I have so far interviewed in thrice and each of these conversations is opening up of history and understanding of Periyar in a new way. One question always intrigued me was Periyar’s views on Hindi language as I felt that he has a huge fan following in north India where humanists like Lalai Singh Yadav translated his work ‘Sachchi Ramayana’ in Hindi. An understanding of Periyar’s ideas in the Hindi heartland would have brought huge cultural changes here. All my confusion evaporated when I was having a conversation with Thiru Veeramani when he said that Periyar was not against Hindi language but imposition of Aryan cultural values on Tamil people.
Dr K Veeramani can proudly say that he never compromised with his principles. He and his team of dedicated cadres of Dravidar Kazhagam ( DK) have fought against irrationality and superstition in our society. Political parties use Periyar for their own purposes but it is a fact that if it is alive today in Tamilnadu, then, we must salute and respect the work of Dr K Veeramani and Dravidar Kazhagam because they hold Periyar’s belief that political parties compromised the ideology. One can see Periyar’s Black shirt white pant/dhoti attire still being used by the Asiryar and DK Cadres but Tamilnadu’s political parties swearing by Periyar’s name actually left that long ago. I don’t find any other symbol powerful than this which put issue of social justice symbolically so powerfully. In fact, I narrated this to many of my African friends who were not aware of this. Nobody has put the symbol of black power in its right place as Periyar did and for propagating it unapologetically, we need to salute the spirit of Dr Veeramani and Dravidar Kazhagam workers.
While political parties take credit on the issue of reservation which is 69% in Tamilnadu and kept in schedule IX of the Constitution but the efforts by Dr K Veermani in this regard need to be put on paper. He not only spoke and publicised the issue but also explained it to then chief Minister J Jayalalitha and brought all parties in Taminadu together at an unprecedented scale resulting in compelling the PV Narasimharao government to place the 69% reservation beyond any legal challenge in any court of law.
Dr Veeramani’s contribution to strengthening and promoting Periyar’s work is an example for all of us to follow who after some years of work feel that they should join a political party or become a member of parliament to ‘complete’ the task. He would have become a minister or gained any big position any time with in the state of Tamilnadu or outside Tamilnadu but he refused to do so. Committed to the ideals of Periyar, Dr Veeramani continues with bringing Periyar’s writings and speeches to the public life and taking Periyar to offshore too. It is because of his ardent devotion in Periyarism that kept him away from the greedy world of power politics which has resulted in the movement getting stronger and with much bigger influence on the common humanity in Tamilnadu.
It needs strong institutions to build up a movement and vice versa. Today, Periyar’s voice is heard all over the country and internationally. Dr K Veeramani is the living legend who has kept the spirit of Periyar’s dreams. Tamilnadu has remained the most powerful state where Periyar’s vi
sion has built an entire society. No political party can afford to ignore Periyar’s ideals even if they might pay a lip service to it. It reflects the truth that it is not merely important to have a political party and come to power but without a strong social cultural movement the political movement would be short term and never succeed. The dedication of the Dravidar Kazhagham cadres led by its leader Thriu K Veeramani has ensured that the vision of Thanthai Periyar is implemented in Tamilnadu. Unlike the politicians, Dr Veeramani has attempted to bring Ambedkarites and Periyarists together for the greater interest of humanity. He has been awarded and acknowledged by various organisations internationally. At this age too, Dr Veeramani is active and guiding thousands of cadres of his organisation about Periyar and his ideals.
A visit to Periyar Thidal fills our heart with immense joy and pride. You can see the power of Periyar but it would not have been possible without strong and dedicated followers. A movement is not merely an activity at certain point of time but a life changing impact on millions of others who may not have seen it or never ever been part of it. A movement impact the lives of not only one particular state but outside that state. Periyar’s self-respect movement today is world known. The propaganda literature produced in Periyar Thidal is now in high demand all over the country. The Ambedkarite movement or the Bahujan movement in rest of the country has translated many of the work of Thanthai Periyar but each one of us should not ask the basic question to ourselves as how come Periyar who only spoke in Tamil has now reached world over. Internationally, this work of interpretation is done by ‘professional’ interpreters who earn money and go but in Periyar’s movement his powerful oratory was interpreted to non-Tamil people in English language by Asiryar who was not merely doing it professionally but also living his life in the idealism of Periyar. Today, we have this enormous wealth of Periyar’s movement and the dedicated cadres and literature that sustain it and ensured that Tamilnadu remain safe in the hands of those dedicated to Periyar’s legacy.
On his 93rd birthday, I congratulate Thiru Veeramani and wish him more energy to complete everything he has visualised so that Periyar’s words reach every nook and corner of the country and in different languages. Dr Veeramani himself is an institution and it is right time when younger generation must be drawn into the movement and learn for the vast treasure of work done by him. I convey my wishes to all members of the Dravidar Kazhgam family to celebrate the occasion and take the movement further which makes all of us proud.
I felt honored when Periyar International conferred me with Dr K Veeramani International Award for Social Justice for the year 2025 in November 2025, at Chennai.
