Kudiyarasu and Rationalism

http://www.shanlaxjournals.com 81 £UP® Shanlax International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities Kudiyarasu and Rationalism Dr. T. Lysammal Former Head of Department, P.G and Research Centre in History N.M.C.C Marthandam Periyar E.V.R. was one of the greatest journalists of the nineteenth century Tamilnadu. His intellectual outpourings-awakened the sleeping masses to a realisation of their real position in society. This intellectual scientist preached his ideas of rationalism through his eloquent speeches, conferences, organisations, writings, satyagrahas, agitations, tours and dramas. His processions, picketings, demonstrations and hartals all were non-violent. He used all his resources-mental, material and moral for the welfare of the underprivileged. His intellectual methods were relevant for many a fighter for the cause of humanity. His key principles of propaganda were self-respect, self-thinking, self-confidence and self-knowledge. He dedicated his life for the spread of his rationalism unmindful of comforts, food and other pleasures of life. Press is the ‘fourth estate’, which preserves freedom of speech and expression and publication. France was the home of such free thoughts before the French Revolution of 1789. Indian press owes its origin to the British East India Company. Tamil journalism was born much later and was in the hands of the educated Brahmins. Their journals aired the views of the upper castes. So, ‘Periyar’ the great intellectual giant, started a number of journals both in Tamil and English to disseminate his thoughts and ideas. He contributed voluminuous writings to his rationalist journals like Kudi Arasu, Revolt, Puratchi, Pahutharivu and Viduthalai, He was also the founder of Unmai (Tamil Fortnightly) and the Modern Rationalist (English Monthly). Realising that journals and newspapers are the best media to convey thoughts and knowledge, Periyar used them to spread his ideas of rationalism in every nook and corner within and outside India.1 He was called one among the fathers of Tamil Journalism. Kudi Arasu was the most powerful weapon in ‘Periyar’s’ SelfRespect Movement. It was a Tamil rationalist weekly published from Erode since May 2, 1925 and lasted upto July 30, 1949.2He published it because on those days the weeklies and newspapers were managed by the upper class and they had no interest and concern for the welfare of the backward and downtrodden. Moreover, ‘Periyar’s’ achievement at Vaikom was blacked out by all the newspapers except Navasakti published by Thiru. V. Kalyana Sundaranar, a Tamil scholar.3’Periyar’ himself recollected this painful event in his speech that he delivered at Marthandam in 1969. It is true that even the historians of Kerala have not recognised ‘Periyar’s’ service while writing about Vaikom Satyagraha. It is sad that the historians, who are expected to be above personal prejudice, have fallen prey to this regional prejudice. The objectives of Kudi Arasu were to create a creedless and casteless new society, to develop each class, to instil and arouse self-respect and to propagate rationalism.4The foremost aim of Kudi Arasu was to liberate knowledge from bondage and to wipe out the disgrace to the Tamilians. ©»º: 13 ]Ó¨¤uÌ: 2 ©õu®: ö\¨h®£º Á¸h®: 2025 P-ISSN: 2321-788X E-ISSN: 2582-0397 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/ zenodo.17310952 82 £UP® kupah fiy kw;Wk; mwptpay; (kfspu;) fy;Y}up> jpUney;Ntyp gz;ila tuyhWk; jkpou; gz;ghLk; The most important policy of Kudi Arasu was to protect and secure the welfare and interests of the masses and labourers by constitutional methods.5 Kudi Arasu also declared that there should not be any difference in thoughts, deeds and wealth; on the other hand, there should be fraternity and equality and this was the zenith of human civilisation.6 Just like Spark to Lenin, Harijan to Gandhiji, Kudi Arasu was to ‘Periyar’. A galaxy of great Tamil rationalist scholars like Sami Kaivalyam, Sami Chidambaranar, S.Gurusami, revolutionary poet Bharati Dasan, Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai, actor N.S. Krishnan and M. Singaravelar the first Communist of South India enriched KudiArasu with their ideas.7 Kudi Arasu was like a bulldozer which cleared the jungle of superstitions with ‘Periyar’s’ articles. Gradually, the revolutionary ideas of Kudi Arasu electrified the Tamilians. He carried on a relentless crusade against the religious humbugs, rites and traditions through this organ. Through it, he condemned God, religion, soul, karma, and rebirth declared that they were mere superstitions.8 In the name of fate, people were cheated by others and of course, it became an obstacle for their developments. To ‘Periyar’ soul, karma, and fate were the weapons of Brahminism, the Congress and the concepts of Nationalism and Swaraj. As regards casteism, Kudi Arasu remarked that it was mainly responsible for the disunity, enemity and division of the people.9 He wrote an article on Secrecy of Hindi and Treason to Tamilin 1926 under the penname of Chithraputiran. He explained the disadvantages of having Hindi and the reasons why it should be abolished? He opposed tooth and nail, the imposition of Hindi upon the people and warned that domination over the Tamilians would lead to the destruction of Tamil culture.10 Moreover, through Kudi Arasu, he declare his support for English language to achieve real independence. He gave up his caste suffix ‘Naicker’ from December 25, 1927 and published his name as E.V. Ramasami in Kudi Arasu. He also remarked that the Brahmins placed obstacles in the way of Self-Respect Movement.11 His ideas about Gandhiji began to be published in Kudi Arasu from 1927 to 1931. In 1930’s it also condemned Gandhiji’s Khaddar and Charka as symbols of barbarism.12 The details of the Self-Respect Conferences were high lighted in Kudi Arasu. It narrated the tyranny of the high castes in the field of education.” It instructed the people to give up religion and lead a life of self-respect. It appealed to the people not to follow the vedas, puranas, and sastras which taught discrimination and not to accept varnashrama.13 ‘Periyar’ was accused of treason and fined for his publication about Bagat Singh14Why he Became an Atheist? ‘Periyar’ translated and published the articles of Lenin, Socrates, Karl Marx and the life of Voltaire in Kudi Arasu. Rationalist articles of Ingersoll, Charles Bradlah and Joseph Mecabe were translated and published in Kudi Arasu. He published articles about Family Planning,Buddhism,SelfRespect,Need for Education, Religion and Samadharma in Kudi Arasu.15 Moreover, he published articles on Marxism, Bolshevik Revolution, Self-Respect Movement, Self-Respect Marriage, Social Reform, Untouchability, Condition of Russia and Russian Women. During his foreign tours. ‘Periyar’ wrote letters from Ceylon, Cairo, Egypt and Colombo to be published in Kudi Arasu. His speeches on HinduMuslim unity and anti-Hindi agitations were also published in it.16 In 1933, he published articles on ‘Communism’ in it. He defined communism “as a principle which laid down that all people of the world are brothers, all wealth and pleasures of the world belong to all and they had equal share”. To him, ‘Communism did not oppose religious doctrines because its leaders gave much importance to the principles of love and universal brotherhood’.17 Since 1933 July 20, he began to attack religions and spread revolutionary ideas. So attempts were made to ban Kudi Arasu, which hurt the feelings of the Christian community.18In addition to this, Kudi Arasu dated October 24, 1933 published an article under the headline ‘Why the Present Administration Should Go?’ For that he was convicted for that along with his sister S.R. Kannammal for six months and fined rupees three hundred.19KudiArasu was banned temporarily from November 1933 to August 1934. In between, ‘Periyar’ published Puratchi from 26 November 1933 and Pahuttharivu from 14 April 1934 to spread his ideas. Later, Kudi Arasu was restored and its publication lasted for fifteen http://www.shanlaxjournals.com 83 £UP® Shanlax International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities years.20 He published the reformed Tamil letters for the first time in Kudi Arasu. He also appealed to the public through Kudi Arasu to destroy villages on the ground that they were perpetuating casteism.21 When ‘Periyar’ published articles on family planning in Kudi Arasu,he faced severe opposition from the public on the ground that it was against god, vedas and nature.22 He published articles on feminism, and about rights and liberation. He appealed for women’s emancipation and declared that it could not be achieved with the help of men alone but women must take up the care of their own liberation. They should not be just like decorative dolls but they must pay special attention to their education for development.23 His articles like Why Woman Became a Slave?, Chastity,Adultery, Cruelty of Widowhood, Need for Remarriage, Right to Divorce and Importance of Property Right were revolutionary. Kudi Arasu raised its voice against social atrocities. It deplored the social disabilities of the low castes in its columns and lamented their inability to secure access to wells,ponds, and temples. It underscored the role of the high castes in creating discrimation in society as found in vedas, puranas and sastras.24 In short, Kudi Arasu became the sanctuary of the socially depressed people and ‘Periyar’ began to talk about the creation of Dravida Nadu to remove poverty, exploitation and disgrace.25 ‘Periyar’ published a number of blasphemous articles against the church, the Pope, priests, nuns and confession. For writing against Christianity Kudi Arasu was stopped. He was against the ideas of heaven and hell, sins and fate and other rituals and sacrifices.26 He was the first to impart western radical rationalistic thoughts in Tamil Nadu. With the help of Kudi Arasu, he made the public to think rationally, removed their ignorance and superstitions.27 Through it, the Self-Respect Movement became popular not only in India but in other countries like Malaysia also.28 Kudi Arasu the mirror of that time, reflected the facts as they were. It condemned the imaginary gods, caste, religion, puranic foul plays, blind faith, superstition and laid stress on truth, morality, honesty, honour and self-respect.29 This dynamic weekly laid the foundation for a welfare state, blue print for new life and the dawn of reason. When the feeling, of nationalism and Brahmin domination were at their peak and the non-Brahmins were at the lowest level of living, KudiArasu provided the much needed respite.30 For the first time, it attacked the fortress of Brahminism, gave a new interpretation to religion, awakened the people and inculcated a sense of self-respect in them and gave a new lease of life to the Dravidians. As a result of his writings in KudiArasu, orthodoxtraditions collapsed; socialism began to spread and the flames of anti-Brahmnism began to rage. Kudi-Arasu not only deplored the social disabilities but also stressed the need for the removal of untouchability so that the non-Brahmins progress. Moreover, it made the people analyse and examine the matters of life and not to believe anything blindly. In short, Kudi Arasu was the nursery of his rational thoughts and ‘Periyar’ could indeed use it as a powerful weapon to cause social revolution in Tamil Nadu. References 1. Puratchi, Erode, May 27, 1934, P.5. 2. GO.No. 974 Law Department, Madras, March 23, 1934, P. 13. 3. Gopalakrishnan, M.D., Periyar the Father of the Tamil Race, Madras, 1992, P.14. 4. Dinaharan (Tamil Daily), Nagercoil September 19, 2003, P.2. 5. KudiArasu, Erode, August 25, 1929, PP. 11-12. 6. G.O.No. 974 Law Department, Madras, March 23, 1934, P.14. 7. KudiArasu, Erode, April 13, 1933, P.11. 8. Aruivukkarasu, S., Periyar, Cuddalore, 2000, P.112. 9. KudiArasu, Erode, May 1, 1927, P.8. 10. Anaimuthu, V., Thoughts of Periyar E.V.R Vol. III, Trichy, 1974., PP. 1766-1770. 11. Vernacular Newspaper Report, March to May 1931; Madras KudiArasu, March 8, 1931, P.380. 12. KudiArasu, Erode, December 24, 1939, P.5. 13. Vernacular Newspaper Report, January 1929, Madras,KudiArasu, July 7, 1929, P.1004. 14. Bagat Singh a freedom fighter was hanged to death by the Viceroy of India Lord Irwin on March 7, 1931 for his extremism. He declared 84 £UP® kupah fiy kw;Wk; mwptpay; (kfspu;) fy;Y}up> jpUney;Ntyp gz;ila tuyhWk; jkpou; gz;ghLk; that atheism and communism are needed for India and this was published in Kudi Arasu by E.V. Ramasami. Kudi Arasu, Erode, March 31, 1935, P.3. 15. Ibid., April 17, 1938, P.19. 16. G.O.No.999 Public Department, Madras, June 13, 1935, P.5. 17. Ibid., July 27, 1942, PP. 1-2. 18. G.O.No. 998, Public Department, Madras, November 28, 1933, P.I. 19. Puratchi, Erode, October 29, 1933, P.9. 20. Extract from the Communal Movement in the Madras Presidency, Madras, (1875-1947) Vol.106, P. 574. 21. Kudi Arasu, Erode, November 22, 1936, P.5. 22. Ibid., April, 1930, PP. 10-11. 23. Ibid., July 27, 1944, PP. 1-2. 24. Native Newspaper Report, Madras, October to December 1931, P. 1504. 25. Kudi Arasu, Erode, June 9, 1940, PP. 6-9. 26. Pahuttharivu, March 1, 1937, P.36. 27. The Modern Rationalist, Vol.27, No.2, Chennai, February 2002, P.26. 28. Eugene F. Irshchick, Tamil Revivalism in 1930’s, Madras, 1986, P.82. 29. Personal Interview with Iraiyan, Journalist, Periyar Tidal. Chennai, February 16, 2002. 30. Kudi Arasu, August 18, 1940, P. 10.