INTRODUCTION:

Opinions continue to form when humans are related to the outer world as well as when they involve themselves in activities; these activities continue to form opinions. This creates a huge impact in the society in which they live, their quality of living, experience, wisdom, etc. A journal is something which brings thoughts/opinion in printed version; it also becomes an authentic document chronicling the nature of the society in the corresponding period in which it is printed.Kudiyarasuwas launched on 02.5.1925 by E.V. R. Periyar, who lived from 17.9.1879 till 24.12.1973.

It was run for 24 years till 05.11.1949. Periyar’s reformist thoughts, which appeared in Kudiyarasuin 1938, were brought out by the Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam in the form of a 27-volume book titled as PeriyarinPechchukkalumEzhuththukkalum (translates as ‘Periyar’s Speeches and Writings’). The Periyar Suyamariyadhai Prachara Niruvanam (‘Periyar Self-Respect Propaganda Agency’) published as a 42-volume book titled as PeriyarKalanjiyam – Kudiyarasu the views expressed by Periyar and which were brought out by Kudiyarasu from 1925 till 1949. Two volumes titled as ‘Rationalism’ and ‘Revolution’ were part of these which incidentally were published when Kudiyarasu faced a ban on publishing from the then rulers.

Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, Va Mu Thangaperumal Pillai, Sami Chidambaranar, E.V. Krishnasamy, A. Ponnambalanar and N. Karivaradasamy were on the editorial board of Kudiyarasu. Diamond Printers printed the journal in its first two years while Erode-based ‘UnmaiVilakkam Publishers’ had brought out the journal.

Now that 90 years have passed by since the journal was launched, it is not known whether there exists a possibility of copies of all those journals getting compiled or getting the printed copies of the journal which had ceased to exist more than 60 years back. It would indeed be a huge loss if we are not able to get complete compilation of all the issues of the journal. The largest revolution witnessed in Tamil Nadu after the ‘Bhakthi Movement’ was the rise of the non-Brahmins against the Brahminical ways of living. Documents pertaining to this movement, therefore, deserve to be protected and preserved. In this backdrop, Kudiyarasu ought to be considered as an important document indeed. Those who compiled Periyarin Pechchukkalum Ezhuththukkalum (‘Periyar’s Speeches and Writings’) penned another book titled as KoottuzhaippinVilaichal (‘Harvest of Cooperative Effort’) which was a compilation of articles which appeared in Kudiyarasu commenting about the history of Tamil Nadu, the history of India which was closely related to that of Tamil Nadu. This excellent document brought out in detail various changes which took place in Periyar’s life besides detailing the path of development in an excellent manner.

Periyar E.V. Ramasamy:

E.V. RamasamyPeriyar, the organizer of Kudiyarasu, was a huge humanitarian thinker who loved humanity. His thoughts always centeredon the equity of society and humans – the liberation of humans. As he happened to reside in a Tamil society, it was quite natural for him to take on all the social ills which were prevalent during his time. He was very keen in ensuring that caste-based discrimination was rooted out of society and in ensuring that a sense of equity pervades the society cutting across the male-female gender disparity and the tendency to treat women as slaves. Ironically enough, there are very few people who had studied and completely understood Periyar’s reformist thoughts. It is indeed a great betrayal of Periyar by the society that it never bothered to translate into English his amazing thoughts and opinions. It is also painful to note that Periyar is by and large considered merely as a staunch atheist and an anti-Brahmin speaker.Periyar had been continually waging a struggle against the prevailing social ills, stating at all times that the superstitious beliefs mindlessly indulged in by the people (and which defied logic) were mainly responsible for the social irregularities. Knowledge-learning-education was mainly to understand the society’s prevailing issues and to ponder why and how such things existed and on what basis were they created. Periyar’s thoughts and views made it clear that he understood these and always strived to set the record straight in his earnest desire in making the best possible effort in reversing the existing trend. Those who are fortunate enough to get a chance to read his writings would easily realize that he had developed all those reformist thoughts based purely on his own personal experiences, the non-stop conversations that he had been having with people throughout his life and the many foreign trips he undertook (especially in the then USSR).

Backdrop in which Kudiyarasu was launched:

A terrible custom had been in place in a hamlet named Vaikom coming under the then Tiruvidangur (Travancore) Province under the British India where in the so-called ‘low-caste’ people were not allowed to use the roads surrounding the popular Somanathar Temple. The irony was that when Muslims were allowed to use these roads, they remained out of bounds for the lower-caste. T.K. Madhavan, a Congress leader and a disciple of Sri Narayana Guru, came forward to challenge this practice/custom at a time when very few dared to protest against this disparity. He launched a huge protest on 30.3.1924. Protesters were arrested and put behind bars. Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Narayana Guru had lent their support to the protest and Sri Narayana Guru had even appealed to the people from all sections of the society to involve them selves in the protest. Lower-caste people understandably stayed away from the protest as they feared a backlash which might result in a worse situation than the one which prevailed at that time. Thousands of people were arrested even as the non-violent protesters were brutally attacked by the police under the British regime.It was at that time that the Kerala Congress Party sought help from Periyar, who was a prominent leader of the Congress Party in Tamil Nadu. Periyar responded to the call and visited Vaikom along with his family members. Involving himself seriously in the protest, he woke up people from a deep slumber as he instigated them to stand-up against the unacceptable social evil of untouchability. The protest became deep-rooted as Periyar was arrested and lodged at the Tiruvidangur Central Prison. Print media in Kerala and the rest of the country, sans Tamil Nadu, covered Periyar’sVaikom protest prominently. With the support of the then royal family, a few purohits conducted the Satrusamharayagam. The king passed away a few days after the Yagam and Periyar was released from the prison. The protest finally came to an end in 1925. This happens to be the first-ever successful non-violent protest held in a huge manner in the country. The protesters later awarded the title of ‘Vaikom Warrior’ to E.V.R. Periyar.

The situation prevailing at that time in society prompted the launch of a revolutionary journal such as Kudiyarasu. Author N. Ramakrishnan explains this in detail in his book titled as E.V.R. Periyar: Vaazhvum Paniyum (‘E.V.R. Periyar: Life and Services’) at page 69. “After the Vaikom struggle, Periyar observed a particular issue and thought deeply about it. The protest in Kerala’s Vaikom seeking social justice to the under-privileged sections of the society went by and large unnoticed in Tamil Nadu with only one or two journals reporting about the protests. He also found out that not many journals in act supported the struggle. When he was arrested by the police of Chennai Provincial Government, he was quick to find out that the press was supporting the Govt. and that it was consciously blocking news about non-Brahmins from appearing in print. This made him realize the significance of launching his own journal,” Ramakrishnan, whose book was released by ‘Bharathi Puthagalayam’, says. Furthermore, Periyar also went on record blaming the press for purposely ‘misinterpreting’ his views and speech either by giving an entirely different meaning or by depicting them as ‘unworthy’ news items. This is a very significant allegation; this should make us realize that all news items/articles which appeared on various magazines in Tamil Nadu at that time, are bound to be scrutinized before we are satisfied about their genuineness.

This was the exact nature of socio-political things which were prevalent at that time. Many of the above-said news items are available in copies of Kudiyarasu. Furthermore, they also provide deep insight into news related to women, articles on them, compilation of speeches and the gravity of the issue.

Objective of launching Kudiyarasu:

Six months after the launch of Kudiyarasu, the editorial of its issue dated 01.11.1925 said “It’s been six months since the journal was launched; the journal should contribute to implement Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of ‘SwarajNirman’ and for the liberation of non-Brahmins and the so-called untouchables paving way for them to lead a life of self-respect. That would be the real Swaraj (self-rule) where everybody is treated and lives equally and the oppressed classes are retrieved their due space in society.” Thus, this provides ample proof of the fact that Kudiyarasu’s primary objective was to create an equitable society where all aspects of social justices are well taken aware of so as to achieve this main objective. In the beginning, the convener of Kudiyarasu was very much a theist who believed in the existence of God. The inaugural issue was released by great Tamil scholar TiruppadhiriPuliyurSwamigal; however, the situation changed drastically very soon. “People with wisdom would agree to the fact that the Almighty didn’t create the irregularities among men and women; except for their physiques, how can anyone find a difference in the courage or knowledge of men and women? This is almost impossible. Both men and women comprise geniuses and great courage-filled souls as well as cowards and idiots. This being the case, it is regrettable and beyond accepted morals that the arrogant male chauvinists are attempting to degrade womenfolk and treat them as slaves!” Kudiyarasu proclaimed in its issue dated 22.08.1926.

METHOD OF RESEARCH:

The research is based on a technique named ‘qualitative content analysis’ as it seeks to take the contents of comments/articles/thoughts which appeared in many issues of the journal Kudiyarasu. As researchers of yore had widely followed this technique while conducting a deep study of contents of journals, this research also follows the same mode of operation mainly for the relevance of the technique. Thus, issues relating to women’s equity, as they appeared in various issues of the journal, have been deeply researched with linguistic dimensions.

Child marriage:

This cruel ritual (of child marriage) was prevalent among traditional Indians in general and in particular amongst Brahmins. There is no sufficient proof to find out when this ritual took deep roots in society: getting children married and making them bear infants at an age when they are supposed to play with dolls. An opinion that this ritual might have been in existence from 12^th century A.D. has gained ground in recent times. People of the Sind region and Tamils of Sangam era were not found to be following this practice: their literature spoke highly about the virtues of chastity and love. Child marriage was not in existence even during the Bhakthi era, a fact which is amply proved by Andal’s eternal love story. Nowhere in any language literature – even in epics - would you find a woman who expresses her deep love in such a graceful and deep manner as Anadal did.Great poet Bharathiyaar once described ‘Mother India’ as a ‘Devi’ with 30 crore faces (referring to the population at that time); around the same time, Mahatma Gandhi had published some deeply disturbing statistics in the journal Navjeevan stating that India had 26, 31,720 widows, out of which 6,707 were less than four years of age and 85,037 were in the age group 5-10 years. These statistics are powerful enough to make all noble-minded persons weak!Reformists undertook great struggles and made huge efforts right from 1880 A.D. to rid the society of the evil of child-marriage which also produced ‘child widows’ due to the demise of many boys. Even the British took a compassionate view in this regard, due to which a draft Bill was attempted to be enacted in 1891 A.D. BalGangadharTilak, however, poured scorn in his journal Kesari against the draft Bill, saying that the British were attempting to shake the very foundations of Hinduism. Finally, HarbilasSharda brought out an amended resolution in 1929 A.D. which after several debates in society took effect as the ‘Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 (Sharda Act) with effect from 01^st April, 1930. Brahmins opposed the Act in a steadfast manner in Indian Parliament and outside and criticized in various journals run by them as well as at meetings convened by them. Conferences/seminars passed various resolutions condemning this Act. At a Brahmin conference held in Vellore, harshly-worded resolutions containing words such as ‘unwarranted, unjustifiable and irreligious’ were passed. Kudiyarasu published details of the enactment of the ‘Sharda Act’, many articles and news items on various resolutions against it, many research articles, etc.

Noted Indian Parliamentarian M.K. Acharya, who was very vocal in his opposition to this Act, said used phrases such as ‘Scrapping child marriage would toss chastity out of the window’, ‘women would be doomed if they are not married as a children’, ‘family life would face huge perils and dangers,’ ‘as menfolk are put behind bars, women’s (extra-marital) character would take a huge beating’, ‘true discipline won’t prevail in society in the absence of child marriage’, all of which were published in the journal Sudesamithiran. Ironically, a scribe of the journal had lavished praised on Acharya’s thoughts. Notably, Kudiyaasu carried in its issue dated 29.3.1928 an editorial containing EVR Periyar’s utterances whether Acharya’s words won’t hurt parents who want their daughters to get married when they cross 20 years of age.

Aborting the foetus:

Kudiyarasu has always voiced its concern stating that women were being treated as slaves by their male counterparts mainly because they were sexually exploited by men who treat them as a child-producing machine, often forcing them to undergo and endure unwanted pregnancies. “Women would be rid of their ‘slaves’ tag only if they possessed the right to undergo or not to undergo pregnancy as per their preferences and wishes. Women who bear too many number of children, thus contributing hugely to population explosion, become prone to catching all sorts of diseases and health hazards which often take their lives at a very young age. Those who survive till old age lead lives of misery in a pathetic manner,” an editorial of Kudiyarasu said in its issue dated 14.12.1930. EVR Periyar, who supported women’s right to undergo pregnancy, was not in favour of unwa(rr)anted abortions. Periyar’s views that termination of pregnancy would be useful in the society’s fight against unemployment and work towards improving economic resources appeared in detail in Kudiyarasu. “As reproduction and pregnancy are purely based on women’s health condition, women should have every right to exercise total control over their bodies and in deciding whether they want to undergo pregnancies. Women can’t be treated or seen as mere child-bearing machines,” were Periyar’s staunch opinion on pregnancy. Further, articles on (termination of) pregnancy had appeared in Kudiyarasu right from the early thirties (1930s); in particular, its issue dated 03.4.1931 carried a detailed article providing information on scientific and non-scientific ways of terminating pregnancies.

Make-up crazy women!:

Kudiyarasu had repeatedly chronicled the fact that women are always equal to men in all fields and professions and that their creativity/energies shouldn’t be wasted by keeping them glued to their kitchens, tending to their children, applying make-up and decorating them with expensive ornaments. “If the money invested in purchasing jewellery and clothes is invested in Banks, it would provide a small amount as interest which could be used in taking good care of their children. Does the father always keep his child near him? Does he shower his child with affection at all times of a day? Does he play with it more often? Thus, it won’t be a bad idea to nurture the child with an aide’s help. Women should occupy higher positions of strength akin to their male counterparts. They should not appear merely like ‘mobile’ jewellery-shelves. Women are quite capable of doing and attending to all things that men do; however, their craze for clothes and expensive jewels only degrade them further; this should be avoided at any cost and it’s time for women to treat themselves with self-respect,” Periyar said in a news item carried by Kudiyarasu in its issue dated 21.9.1946.

Kind of transformation that women should undergo:

Treating women as slaves is a huge social evil. Women should learn to use their wisdom at all times and rationalize all things. Education is essential to all. While driving home the need for women’s education, Kudiyarasu urges women to be passionate about education. “Only if you change your own outlook about yourselves would your husband and other men undergo the desired transformation. Men always accuse you of being backward-minded in nature; please don’t get blamed like this in future. Instead of you being referred to as the ‘wife’ of somebody that somebody should be referred to as the ‘husband’ of you. Women should rise to such a situation,” said Kudiyarasu in its issue dated 05.6.1948. Women should not only concentrate in setting their own house in order but should also take up common religious and educational causes, superstitions, growth of the universe, evil of caste-based discrimination, untouchability, etc. Kudiyarasu’s issues dated 1.7.1932, 24.7.1932, 18.9.1932; 06.11.1932 and 13.11.1932 have spread these thoughts about women’s self-respect.

Need for right to possess properties:

Right from time immemorial, women never possessed the right to own properties and they weren’t vested with rights to hold properties. As they were traditionally expected to migrate to their in-laws’ residences post their marriages and start living with them, they were to own up only the ‘gifts’ given by their parents at the time of their marriages. This ritual by the bride’s family to give their daughter many expensive household and other articles is still in vogue in the name of PirandhaVeettuSeedhanam (‘Invaluable gifts from their parental home’). Kudiyarasu has always impressed on and fought for women’s rights and for them to possess the right to own up properties. “As women not possessing the right to own up assets remains a great hurdle in their ‘liberation’ process, women should henceforth have equal rights when family properties divided among the children; they need money in their kitty all the more as in the event of the husband’s demise, a woman is left at the mercy of others who are not always good-mannered to render help without expecting anything in return. When a husband passes away, his assets should invariably be transferred to his wife who should enjoy absolute control over all the properties held by her deceased husband,” Kudiyarasu said in its editorial dated 02.12.1928. Things have, however, undergone a drastic change today. Women enjoy equal rights in their parents’ properties. Just imagine how pathetic women’s plight was during those terrible times when they were neither given the deceased husband’s properties nor were allowed to entertain the thought of re-marriage!

Is women’s liberation a possibility with men’s help?:

In its issue dated 22.12.1929, Kudiyarasu published a strongly-worded article which read thus: “The attitude of treating women as slaves only increases with men’s decision to wage struggle for women’s liberation; many controls which would never be freed are being woven around women to keep them in a stranglehold. Men showing themselves as treating women with dignity and toiling for their liberation are nothing but acts of cheating and conspiracy meant to pin down women further. Would a cat ever seek to liberate a mouse? Would a jackal strive for freeing a sheep and chicken? Would landlords ever let their grip loosen around their labourers? Would the British seek economic liberation of Indians? Would Brahmins ever thing about treating non-Brahmins equally?

These questions and their thought-provoking answers would bring out the hidden truth. Even if one or a few of the above-stated things become realities, one can rest assured about the fact that men would never agree to liberating women whole-heartedly from their iron-like grip!” Though such strong thoughts were expressed 90 years ago, reservation of 50% for women in all sectors is still being debated about and doesn’t appear to become a reality in the near future. A look at the representation of women in India’s Parliament and the various State Legislative Assemblies would reveal the truth behind Kudiyarasu’s views!

Education:

In its issues dated 22.4.1928 and 29.4.1928, Kudiyarasu carried a two-part series of articles panned by PenninaNallaar, a woman who fought for women’s self-respect. Titled as ‘The pathetic plight of women’, the article discusses in detail women’s education, (misunderstood) Tamil culture, marriage, widowhood, Brahminism and many other issues. “Though many have advocated the need for women’s education, college-going girls are often ridiculed and harassed in many ways. Married women and women who undergo failed love affairs are often made victims of harassment of a highest order. Women are not allowed to choose their life partner and future husbands; they are also not given ample opportunities to move around with their future spouses so as to know them better. Women are seldom allowed to speak to the persons (before marriage) they get engaged to; the plight of a Hindu widow is the most cumbersome as she is always ‘carefully’ monitored and her behavior – in the form of her speech, chastity, self-esteem - is always put to test. She is blamed as a woman of cheat virtue at the very first available opportunity. Contrary to a man who ties the nuptial knot for the second time within a few weeks of the demise of his wife, a woman is never allowed such liberty. The situation prevailing today is far better, thanks to women’s empowerment brought about by their education,” she says. “Our culture, traditional customs and rituals, combined with Brahminism, have only strengthened women’s slavery; they also deny a woman the right to find a solution to the many issues hampering her progress,” she adds. On its part, Kudiyarasu had reiterated time and again the need for the resurgence of many ‘E.V.R. Periyars’ who speak from their hearts and render their fullest cooperation to Periyar.

Separate movements for women:

Delivering a special lecture at the Women’s Self-Esteem conference held in Chennai District, Girija Devi spoke about the need to establish a special Govt. Department headed by a woman to take care of women’s empowerment/progress. “Only women should be chosen as the members of such Department; members should be nominated at the beginning and can be chosen by women’s votes at a later stage,” Girija Devi suggests. “All local bodies should be managed by women representatives who should be aided by women officials. They should undertake the trouble of explaining to poor pregnant women the need to take utmost care of their health and take proper steps to eradicate their miseries,” she said in her speech which as reported by Kudiyarasu’s in its issue dated 10.01.1932.The journal carries original views on women’s liberation, independent women’s movements, sharing of power by women in local and other bodies and empowering them at all stages. Later on, during the course of the self-respect movement initiated by E.V.R. Periyar, these views got transformed into requests in creating independent women’s movements within the self-respect movement.

In its issue dated 13.01.1935, Kudiyarasu A. Raghavan, a popular reformist writer of the self-respect movement, penned an article titled as ‘Self-Respect Movement and Women’. In his articles, Raghavan wrote thus: “The reach and range of the self-respect movement extended to a great extent to attract the attention of the great Rajagopalachariyar; even the Congress Party is wondering why it shouldn’t be allying itself with our movement,” and goes on to add that a ‘Women’s Centre’ would have to be set up at Trichy or Erode to cater to the needs of widows and their children to teach them vocational courses besides imparting non-formal education. He also goes on to elaborate the manner in which the proposed ‘Women’s Centre’ should be functioning.Neelavathi, who endorses and supports Raghavan’s views, pitched in for creation of a separate Association for women’s welfare. “Associations which existed now were only for the rich and a ‘Rationalist Women’s Association’ would have to be formed for poor and common women to be part of the Association,” she said while penning an article in this regard in Kudiyarasu in its issue dated 31.3.1935. The debate and discussion for creating a special Association for women went on intensely even after that; an idea of floating a separate journal for women was also propped up. However, all these thoughts and views took a backseat due to some unexpected developments which took place later.

Dr.Muthulakshmi Reddy’s hypocrisy:

Dr.Muthulakshmi Reddy, who was instrumental in getting the Devadasi Abolition Act passed, had also spoken out in support of the ban on getting young girls married off. She, however, moved a resolution in the Madras Provincial Assembly pleading for inclusion of religious education in school curriculum. An article in Kudiyarasuappeared in this regard in its issue dated 27. 5. 1928 stating that “Devadasi Abolition Act and Anti Child Marriage Act were strongly opposed in the name of Hinduism. This being the case, how should religious education be included in the curriculum paving way for making women as slaves?” the article asked. It also ‘advised’ Dr.Muthulakshmi to relinquish her medical profession and say ‘good-bye’ to public life and become an ordinary housewife!

Women in Christianity and Islam:

Kudiyarasu has an opinion about women from religions such as Christianity and Islam. It has published articles (penned by Muslim writers) condemning the ritual of making women wear ‘purdah’ and the condition of Muslim widows in Islamic society. Another article which appeared in the journal condemned Christianity for protecting the slavery of women. Sathankulam A. Raghavan’sWomen and Catholic Christians, which appeared in Kudiyarasu’s issue dated 30.7.1933, is quite significant in this regard.

Opposition/criticism encountered by Kudiyarasu:

Many contemporary journals of Kudiyarasu, which were in existence basically to protect archaic thoughts, opposed tooth and nail the reformist thoughts expressed by Kudiyarasu seeking gender parity and human equality. News item carried by Deshbandhu in this regard is quite significant. Deshbandhu’seditor Meenatchisundaram is the brother of Congressman KrishnasamyPaavalar. A peep into the opinion expressed by Deshbandhu gives sufficient idea about the state of the society during the days and the challenges, humiliation and criticism that Kudiyarasu faced with courage.“Have those self-respect movement’s cadres, who speak about the rights of AdiDravidars, ever taken food in the houses of AdiDravidars? Or, have they ever entered into matrimonial alliance with AdiDravidar families? They often talk of novelty and why can’t they infuse some kind of novelty in the marriages of their respective families? If family members get married among themselves, the archaic habit of checking the ‘gothrams’ of the brides and bridegrooms would be abolished. Giving a family’s girl to other family without ‘experiencing’ the pleasures of the girl on our own won’t amount to losing one’s self-respect. In fact, making our girl a slave to others and bowing to them would be a huge blot on the self-respect movement,” the article in Deshbandhu, which appeared on 28.9.1929, said thus.

“Independence has to take into account the customs/tradition followed by a certain community or nation. Ours is a society which respects women and womanhood. Manu feels presence of women in a family is akin to the presence of Goddess Lakshmi Herself. Our epics have often said that a household which doesn’t respect its women would court disaster sooner or later. Physique differs from woman to man in a big way which can’t be altered. A woman’s body is made in such a manner as to take care of all the household chores in an exemplary manner. They can’t go out and sweat it out like men do; some may be forced to do so to satisfy their hunger but it can only be an exception. Making women lose the heavenly qualities of fear, being modest, chastity, etc. would be akin to making a direct attempt to turn them into ghosts,” the article which appeared on 17.8.1929 in Deshbandhu observed.“Would you be able to prove that a romantic angle is certainly involved in the so-called reformist ‘self-respect’ marriages? If women get educated and start going for jobs, it would disintegrate the matrimonial life and push the pleasures that accompany that life into deep oblivion,” Deshbandhu’s above-said article went on to mention.

“Is women’s liberty closely linked to (following) western culture/tradition? Don’t we have our own set of books informing and educating us about the pleasures of sex?” another Deshbandhuarticle which was published on 31.8.1929 said.“There has been a huge ruckus demanding that Indian women should shun their age-old traditional rituals, holy hymns and the discipline associated with nuptial knot and should go ahead and choose bridegrooms of their own choices; they have also been demanding that the Govt. should help them out by enacting a law in this regard,” an article which appeared in Deshbandhu on 27.7.1929 said.“If women are given equal rights in owning properties/assets too, they would be forced to court other men (for sex) so as to bear children to enjoy those properties/assets,” article dated 03.8.1929 said in Desbhandhu.

“Deshbandhu now makes a recommendation to S.J. Kannappar, who had been writing regularly about ‘self-respect’ marriages; if Kannappar hasn’t got married yet, we are ready to get him married to a girl from the AdiDravidar community in our place who had been in love with him for a long time,” Deshbandhu said in its reader’s letters column published on 29.6.1929.Thus, countless number of contemptuous writing was aimed at self-respect movement as well as against the Kudiyarasu journal. Not only in Deshbandhu, you would have come across such mud-slinging campaign in journals such as Sudesamithiran, The Hindu, etc. These reflected not only the thoughts and beliefs of majority of people in those days but also the social outlook of those journals, the irrepressible attachment they had with their age-old tradition and their stance in respect of women’s standing in society in those days. This regrettable attitude prevailed in huge measure even among the majority of those who had claimed themselves as educationists and nationalists; this only goes to prove the nature of concern for society which existed during those troubled time.

CONCLUSION:

Kudiyarasu happens to be the only journal in India, and in particular in Tamil Nadu, which discussed in great detail issues relating to feminism. In all the complications and crises that women faced/encountered, Kudiyarasualways stood by them, waged struggles in their support with women’s welfare as its priority. It was only after the launch of Kudiyarasu that debates took place in huge dimensions about feminism in Tamil Nadu. No other journal made women as its priority as Kudiyarasudid. Till today, no journal has been able to fill the void left by Kudiyarasu in content and thought- process. Kudiyarasu alone waged a lone battle for 50% reservation for women in all sectors/departments as womenfolk comprised more than 50% of humanity on earth. Many struggles which were initiated by Kudiyarasu in support and promotion of feminism have succeeded today after many years: prominent among them being the self-respect marriage, rights for women to own assets/property, etc. At a time when the Govt. had not even started thinking seriously about (introducing) family-planning measures, it was Kudiyarasu which kept mentioning constantly about the issue to create awareness among women and protect their welfare. In the Indian history which is quite popular and which has been documented many a time, Kudiyarasu waged an almost lone battle in between the non-stop opinion-based Brahminical-theist-male-centric struggles and the non-Brahminical-Lokayta (global)-retrieval of rights-thought process centred around rights of all: it dazzled in its struggle in every aspect and in all possible directions which India-Tamil Nadu led it!

REFERENCE:

1. Periyar E.V. R. Sindhanaigal by V. Anaimuthu

2. Kudiyarasu Periyaarin Ezhuththum Pechchum by Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam

3. Periyar Suyamariyadhai Samadharmam by S.V. Rajaduraiand Va. Geetha

4. Revolt – A radical weekly from Colonial Madras by VaGeetha and S.V. Rajadurai

5. E.V.R. Periyaar – VaazvhumPaniyum by N. Ramakrishnan

6. Digitzed copies of the journal Kudiyarasu

Received on 24.10.2017 Modified on 27.11.2017

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2018; 9(1): 107-113.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00019.0