Erode VenkataRamasamy(17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), was an Indian social activist, freedom fighter and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and DravidarKazhagam.

E.V. Ramasamy was born in Erode, Madras Presidency to a wealthy family of Balijas. At a young age, he witnessed numerous incidents of caste and gender discrimination.

E.V. Ramasamy propagated the principles of rationalism, self-respect, women’s rights and eradication of caste. He opposed theexploitation and marginalisation of the non-Brahmin Dravidian people of South India and the imposition of what he considered Indo-Aryan India. His work has greatly revolutionised the Tamil society and has significantly removed caste-based discrimination. The citation awarded by the UNESCO described E.V. Ramasamy as “the prophet of the new age, the Socrates of South East Asia, father of social reform movement and arch enemy of ignorance, superstitions, meaningless customs and base manners.

Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–1925)

In Vaikom, a small town in Kerala state, then Travancore, there were strict laws of untouchability in and around the temple area. Dalits, also known as Harijans were not allowed into the close streets around and leading to the temple, let alone inside it. Anti-caste feelings were growing and in 1924 Vaikom was chosen as a suitable place for an organised Satyagraha. Under his guidance a movement had already begun with the aim of giving all castes the right to enter the temples. On the fourteenth of April, Periyar and his wife Nagamma arrived in Vaikom. They were immediately arrested and imprisoned for participation.

Self-Respect Movement

Periyar and his followers campaigned constantly to influence and pressure the government to take measures to remove social inequality, even while other nationalist forerunners focused on the struggle for political independence. The Self-Respect Movement was described from the beginning as “dedicated to the goal of giving non-Brahmins a sense of pride based on their Dravidian past”.

Rationalism

The bedrock of E.V. Ramasamy’s principles and the movements that he started was rationalism. He thought that an insignificant minority in society was exploiting the majority and trying to keep it in a subordinate position forever. He wanted the exploited to sit up and think about their position, and use their reason to realise that they were being exploited by a handful of people. If they started thinking, they would realise that they were human beings like the rest, that birth did not and should not endow superiority over others and that they must awaken themselves and do everything possible to improve their own lot.

Women’s rights

As a rationalist and ardent social reformer, Periyar advocated forcefully throughout his life that women should be given their legitimate position in society as the equals of men and that they should be given good education and have the right to property.

Periyar fought against the orthodox traditions of marriage as suppression of women in Tamil Nadu and throughout the Indian sub-continent. Much worse was the practice of child marriages practised throughout India at the time.

Women in India also did not have rights to their families’ or husbands’ property. Periyar fought fiercely for this and also advocated for the women to have the right to separate or divorce their husbands under reasonable circumstances.

He criticised the hypocrisy of chastity for women and argued that it should also either belong to men, or not at all for both individuals. While fighting against this, Periyar advocated to get rid of the Devadasi system.