Southern pride

Southern pride

Context

At a press conference last week, when Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam working president M.K. Stalin was asked what he thought of the southern States combining to form “Dravida Nadu,” he replied, “If this happens, it is welcome and it will happen I believe.” Given the brouhaha (an overexcited reaction) around his remark, it deserves to be properly contextualised historically and in the backdrop of Tamil politics of recent years

Not a new demand

The Tamil demand for a separate State is not new. The idea of Dravida Nadu, named for the ethnicity of its original inhabitants, initially gathered momentum with the support of the Justice Party led by Periyar E.V. Ramasamy

The origins of the demand

Various events spurred the demand

• Introduction of Hindi in Tamil Nadu schools in 1937, during the early- to mid-20th century
• Fear that Brahminism as a socially dominant force, Hindi, as an official language, and north Indian cultural mores would be afforded hegemonic status, relegating Tamil ethnic sentiment to a secondary position

Periyar’s voice & 16^th amednment

Consequently, from around 1938, Periyar gave voice to the demand for Dravida Nadu and it continued to find articulation in various forms via his successors at the head of the Dravidian movement, including DMK Chief Ministers C.N. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi

• This went on until October 1963, when the Government of India, helmed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, enacted the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, effectively outlawing what it considered to be secessionist slogans by those seeking to occupy public office

Local parties gain power

Consequently many local parties including Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu came to power and the demand for Dravida nadu lost momentum

Recent events

Death of sitting Chief Minister Jayalalithaa of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in 2016, and the stepping back from active politics of the DMK supremo, Mr. Karunanidhi, owing to ill health has created a political vacuum which BJP is vying to fill out, thereby prompting the call for a Dravida Nadu