Periyar bonanza: exhilarating reading

Scholars engaged in the study of Periyar E.V. Ramasamy never had it so good. As many as three editions of the collected writings and speeches of Periyar (1879-1973) are now available. V. Anaimuthu's path-breaking work, first published in 1974, was reissued in a vastly expanded edition earlier this year. The 27 volumes brought out by Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam, held up by copyright litigation, were also released soon thereafter. Periyar Kalanjiyam, under review, was conceived way back in 1983 as the definitive edition of the complete works of Periyar. First published thematically, it has now been restructured chronologically. The 11 volumes cover the period 1925-30 of Kudiarasu, the weekly founded and edited by Periyar. (More volumes have since appeared).

Radical thinker
Periyar's public life covered a long span, which virtually coincided with the making of modern Tamil Nadu. He was a self-taught thinker, and his views were radical and even revolutionary. He was respected and revered by the lower castes of Tamil Nadu, but was also much reviled and abused in his lifetime. The transformation in post-Mandal/Masjid contemporary India, however, triggered a new interest in this radical thinker. Periyar's ideas are now seen as offering an alternative perspective to the dominant nationalist framework in which Indian history and society have been seen for long.

When Periyar launched Kudiarasu in May 1925 — interestingly, at a function presided over by a Saivite reformist, Gnaniar Adigal — he was still very much a part of the Congress even though he was already voicing strong views against Brahmin domination and advocating caste-based reservation in employment and education opportunities. The Vaikom Satyagraha, wherein Periyar played a leading part, was just over and the controversy around the Cheranmadevi Gurukulam (a nationalist school founded by V.V.S. Aiyar), where Brahmin students were given a privileged treatment in the serving of food, was raging. For the first time, we have started getting extensive written accounts of Periyar's views on these and other major issues, including the ones related to politics — for instance, the Simon Commission — and the vicissitudes of the Congress, Justice, and Swarajya parties.

Full report here Hindu