The Dravidian movement

Detail

1. Roots: non-Brahmin politics

• Non-Brahmin politics was a movement in the Madras Presidency. It challenged the control that Brahmins (the priestly upper caste) had over jobs, education and public life.
• It began with the Justice Party (1916). This is beyond NCERT.
• The wider movement started in early 20th-century Tamil Nadu. It aimed to:
• end caste discrimination;
• promote equality;

• get more non-Brahmins into education and government jobs. [3]

• The word "Dravidian" points to the shared culture and languages of South India's Dravidian-speaking peoples, especially Tamil culture and identity. [3]

2. E.V. Ramasami "Periyar" (bio box)

• He began as a Congress worker.
• He was an atheist (a person who does not believe in God). He attacked caste, religious orthodoxy (strict old religious rules) and patriarchy (male control over women). [3]
• Aryan-Dravidian thesis: he argued that north Indians and Brahmins are "Aryans", outsiders who dominated the "Dravidian" south.
• Self-Respect Movement (1925): started by Periyar. It fought caste hierarchy and Brahmin dominance. It promoted reason, human dignity and Dravidian identity, especially for marginalised (pushed-aside) communities. [3]

3. Dravidar Kazhagam (DK), 1944

• Dravidar Kazhagam ("Dravidian Federation") was founded by Periyar in 1944 out of the Justice Party and Self-Respect traditions. Periyar turned the Justice Party into the DK. [3]
• What it opposed:
• Brahmin dominance;

• the North's political, economic and cultural control over the South.

• Slogan: "Vadakku vaazhgiradhu; therkku thaeikiradhu", meaning "the north thrives, the south decays".

• Reach: it first claimed to speak for all of South India. It found support only in Tamil Nadu, so it stayed a Tamil movement.

4. The Dravidian movement: its nature

• Definition: a Tamil regional movement against Brahmin dominance, Hindi imposition and north Indian domination.
• Some members dreamt of a separate "Dravida Nadu" (Dravidian nation).
• It never took up arms. It worked through public debates and elections.
• This sets it apart from the armed movements in Punjab, J&K and parts of the North-East.

5. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), 1949

• DMK ("Dravidian Progress Federation") was founded in 1949 in Madras by C.N. Annadurai, after a split from the DK. [4]
• Why the split happened:
• Periyar wanted the movement to stay a social-reform force, outside election politics.

• Annadurai believed that contesting elections was needed for real social change. [5]

• First big campaign: a three-part agitation (1953-54)

• Restore the Tamil name Kallakudi to a railway station. It had been renamed Dalmiapuram after a northern business house (the Dalmia group).
• Teach more Tamil cultural history in school syllabuses.

• Oppose the state government's craft-education scheme. The DMK called it Brahmanical, because it pushed children into their family's hereditary trade.

• It also opposed Hindi as the official language of the Union. [4]

6. Dropping secession: the 16th Amendment, 1963

• Secession means demanding that a region break away from the country.
• Constitution (Sixteenth Amendment) Act, 1963 came into force on 5 October 1963. [2]
• Why it was passed: a Committee on National Integration and Regionalism recommended powers to protect the sovereignty and integrity of the Union. [2]
• What it changed:

Provision	Change by the 16th Amendment, 1963
Article 19(2), (3), (4)	Added "the sovereignty and integrity of India" as a ground for reasonable restrictions (lawful limits) on free speech, peaceful assembly and forming associations [2]
Oaths (Third Schedule; Articles 84, 173)	Candidates for Parliament and state legislatures, ministers, MPs and MLAs, Supreme Court and High Court judges and the CAG must swear to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India [2]

• Effect:
• A party seeking secession could no longer take part in elections in good faith.
• The DMK dropped its demand for a separate Dravida Nadu and fully entered constitutional politics.

7. The language question and the 1965 anti-Hindi agitation

• Article 343: Hindi in Devanagari script is the official language of the Union. English was to continue for only 15 years after the Constitution began, which meant until 1965. [8]
• Official Languages Act, 1963 (Act No. 19 of 1963), Section 3: after that 15-year period, English may continue alongside Hindi for the Union's official work and for Parliament's business. [8]
• 1965: fear that Hindi would replace English set off a large anti-Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu. The protests were often violent. They greatly boosted the DMK.
• Official Languages (Amendment) Act, 1967 (Act No. 1 of 1968, 8 January 1968) gave English an indefinite role. [9]
• English stays in use until all states that have not adopted Hindi pass resolutions to drop it;
• and then each House of Parliament also passes such a resolution. [9]

• In effect, each non-Hindi state has a veto (the power to block the change).

• 1968: Parliament also passed an Official Language Resolution to spread Hindi more actively. [9]

8. The path to power, 1967

• The DMK won the 1967 Madras assembly election. [4]
• It was the first non-Congress party to win a majority on its own in any state.
• 1967 is also the year the "Congress system" first broke down in many states (see congress-system-challenges).
• Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969 (beyond NCERT).
• Rajamannar Committee (1969): the DMK government set it up to study Centre-state relations and to argue for more state autonomy (see federalism-centre-state).

9. After 1967: two Dravidian parties

• Annadurai died in 1969. M. Karunanidhi succeeded him and led the DMK. [5]
• Split, 1972: M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), a film star, left and formed the AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam). [4]
• The DMK and AIADMK have taken turns ruling Tamil Nadu ever since. The Congress has not ruled the state since 1967.
• Smaller Dravidian or regional parties also keep Tamil pride alive: the MDMK, PMK and DMDK.
• Role at the Union level:
• NCERT says one of the two parties had been part of the Union ruling coalition since 1996. That held until 2013.
• Neither party has been in the Union government since 2014.

10. Social-justice legacy: 69% reservation

• Tamil Nadu Act 45 of 1994 fixed reservation at 69% for Backward Classes, SCs and STs. It covers both college seats and state government jobs. The Act was notified on 19 July 1994. [7][6]
• On 22 July 1994, Tamil Nadu asked the Union to place this Act in the Ninth Schedule. [6]
• Ninth Schedule: a list of laws given special protection.

• Under Article 31B, a law in this list cannot be struck down only because it violates a Fundamental Right.

• Constitution (Seventy-sixth Amendment) Act, 1994 (enacted 31 August 1994) added the Act as Entry 257A of the Ninth Schedule. [6][10]

• This protected Tamil Nadu's 69% quota, which is above the usual 50% limit on reservation.

11. Continuing federal assertion

• Federal assertion means a state pressing for its own powers against the Union. Present-day disputes include:
• NEET: the state opposes the national medical entrance test.
• NEP three-language formula: the state sees it as Hindi imposition and keeps its two-language policy (Tamil and English).

• Delimitation: redrawing constituencies by population. Southern states that controlled population growth fear losing Lok Sabha seats.

• 2025: the state set up a high-level committee on Union-State relations. It is chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Kurian Joseph and revisits the ideas of the Rajamannar Committee.

12. NCERT's verdict

• Tamil regionalism was once seen as a threat to national unity.
• Its history shows that regionalism and nationalism can go together:
• secession was given up through constitutional means (the 16th Amendment);
• the language question was settled by compromise (the 1967 amendment);

• Dravidian parties shared power at the Union level.

• Exercise Q1 pairs Tamil Nadu with this theme: linguistic identity and tensions with the Centre.

Prelims Hooks

• 16th Amendment, 1963: added "sovereignty and integrity of India" to Article 19(2), (3), (4) and to the oaths of candidates, legislators, ministers, judges and the CAG. It came into force on 5 October 1963. [2]
• Self-Respect Movement: 1925, Periyar. Dravidar Kazhagam: 1944, Periyar. DMK: 1949, C.N. Annadurai. AIADMK: 1972, M.G. Ramachandran. (Trap: the DK came first; the DMK split from it.)
• Kallakudi–Dalmiapuram: a station renaming that was part of the DMK's 1953-54 three-part agitation.
• 1967: the DMK became the first non-Congress party to win a state majority on its own. Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969.
• Official Languages Act, 1963, Section 3 (as amended in 1967): English continues until every non-Hindi state's legislature and both Houses of Parliament resolve to drop it. [8][9]
• 76th Amendment, 1994: put Tamil Nadu Act 45 of 1994 (69% reservation) in the Ninth Schedule as Entry 257A, with protection under Article 31B. [6][10]
• Rajamannar Committee (1969): set up by Tamil Nadu on Centre-state relations. It was a state committee, not a Union one like the Sarkaria Commission.
• Slogan "Vadakku vaazhgiradhu; therkku thaeikiradhu" ("the north thrives, the south decays"): Dravidar Kazhagam.

Mains Points

• Accommodation over force (GS-I): the Dravidian movement shows how a secessionist mood was absorbed peacefully.
• The 16th Amendment closed off secession through elections.
• Elections opened a route to power (1967).
• The 1967 language compromise answered the core grievance.

• Compare the armed movements in Punjab and the North-East.

• Language and federalism (GS-II): the 1963 Act and its 1967 amendment give non-Hindi states an effective veto over dropping English. [8][9] This shows that India's language policy is negotiated, not imposed. The same debates return today over NEET, the NEP three-language formula and delimitation.

• Social justice through regional politics: the Dravidian parties turned anti-caste ideas into state policy, such as 69% reservation protected by the 76th Amendment. [6] Debate: the Ninth Schedule route protects such policies but reduces judicial review.
• Regional parties and national power: the DMK and AIADMK took part in Union coalitions (until 2013). This shows that regional parties can strengthen federal bargaining rather than threaten national unity, as NCERT concludes.