திராவிடர் விடுதலைக் கழகம் Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam

தலைவர் - கொளத்தூர் தா. செ. மணி; பொதுச் செயலாளர் - விடுதலை க. இராசேந்திரன்

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Tagged: Brahminism

Nationalism and Anti-Caste Radicalism

Revolt

Nationalism and Anti-Caste Radicalism

The Self-respect movement was not merely a social reform movement. Rather, it considered itself espousing and representing an alternative politics and one in which social concerns were as central to its vision of an ideal polity as political ones. This politics was defined in two ways: as a critique of and in contrast to Congress nationalism; and as political Non-brahminism. Self-respecters prised apart Congress Nationalism and subjected its truth claims and patriotic rhetoric to relentless critical interrogation. Gandhi proved a frustrating object of critique for them: intrigued as well as irritated by his moral creed, they yet dared to disagree...

From Revolt

Revolt

From Revolt

This selection of articles from Revolt has been made, keeping in mind the historical conjuncture in which the magazine was published. For heuristic purposes, the selection has been arranged under different heads, and as readers will find out, most pieces can and ought to be read across chapters and sections. Each of the four parts comes with its own brief introduction. Each part is further subdivided into thematic sections – these relate to events, personalities, ideas or particular ideological concerns. Each section is further divided into sub-sections. In the latter, wherever they relate to the same idea or topic or...

Revolt in Its Time

Revolt

Revolt in Its Time

Revolt was active for over two momentous years: from 1928-1930. The mid-and late 1920s were marked by workers’ unrest in Bombay and Calcutta in key industries, the great railway strike and articulated rural discontent in the Andhra region of the Madras Presidency and the United Provinces. These years also saw the determined assertion of a radical anti-untouchability politics in the Bombay province under the leadership of Dr Ambedkar, which directly challenged the Gandhian approach to reform, and threatened to steal nationalism’s moral aura from it. Besides, Congress nationalists had to contend with youthful militancy in Bengal and Punjab. The Young...

Revolt: A Brief Description

Revolt

Revolt: A Brief Description

Amongst the Self-respect journals which adopted radical rationalism as their creed, Revolt stands out. For one, it was the first English language weekly to be published by the movement, and edited by Ramasami Periyar. Secondly, given its potentially wider readership, it constituted the Self-respect movement as uniquely internationalist – aligning it, both discursively and historically, with filial movements in the rest of India and with rationalists elsewhere in the world. The weekly was launched at Erode, the birthplace of Periyar E.V.Ramasami on November 7, 1928, which, in the words of the leader written for its first anniversary number, was “that...

Freethought, Atheism and Social Radicalism in Colonial Madras – V. Geetha and S. V. Rajadurai

Revolt

Freethought, Atheism and Social Radicalism in Colonial Madras – V. Geetha and S. V. Rajadurai

A  secular, freethinkers’ union was active in Madras in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. It affiliated itself with and was perhaps known to Freethought circles in England. The union called itself ‘the Chennai Suyaakina Sangam’, calling attention to its will to think through rather than accept truth as given and handed down. The sangam ran two journals, Tattuva Vivesini in Tamil and The Thinker in English. We do not know enough about the circumstances that halted their publication, but the forthright and freewheeling critique of scripture and priesthood which Tattuva Vivesini put forth did leave its mark in...