PERIYAR RAMASWAMY NAICKER:

Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy, commonly known as Periyar, also referred to as
ThanthaiPeriyar, was social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and DravidarKazhagam. He is known as the 'Father of the Dravidian Movement'. He did notable work against Brahminical dominance and gender and caste inequality in Tamil Nadu. He was born to rich and prosperous parents in a Kannadiga Balija Naicker community in Erode on 17th September 1879. His father was Venkatappa Naicker and mother was
Chinnathayammai. EVR's father was a prosperous businessman and was once elected as councillor in Erode Municipality.
At the age of nineteen, he got married with Nagamma. The marriage had strengthened his convictions and thereafter he seemed more irreligious. Nagamma cooperated with her husband in all his later public activities and agitations. At the age of twenty five Periyar left his family and had toured to Banaras. His convictions and beliefs became
stronger when he witnessed the immoral acts of the Brahmin priests who were considered to be the saviours of Hindu religion. Till 1920, Periyar was not only a successful businessman but also took interest in local administration, got himself elected as member of local bodies.

Periyar had joined the Congress on the specific understanding that the congress should work for the salvation of the non-Brahmin communities. In the beginning of 1920, EVR enrolled himself as one of the member of the congress party in Tamilnadu. As a Congressman and follower of Gandhi, he worked to strengthen the congress movement. He became the president
of The Tamila Nadu Congress Committee. He emerged as a mass leader by leading an agitation against the restrictions imposed on the untouchables in the Travancore State also. He organised the non-Brahmin Classes Conference at Madurai in 1936. Ramaswami Naikar founded the Dravidian movement to fight Aryan 'domination' which to him was synonymous with Brahmin domination and Brahmanism. He remained the central figure of the Dravidian movement from the 1920s to till his death in 1973.

Self-Respect Movement (SRM)

Ramaswamy Naicker is known for his self-respect movement in the Tamil Nadu region.
He exhorted the non-Brahmin communities to keep up their self-respect and maintain it at any cost. Born in Erode, Naicker opposed the prevailing social inequality and untouchability in the society.Periyar decided that he should undertake a crusade against caste tyranny and social autocracy of the superior Brahmanical caste. Periyar wrote a series of articles in Kudi-Arasu (a newspaper started by himself) exposing the mischievous propounds of Brahmins. This weekly is devoted to the task of conscientising of the people. After quitting congress, Pen became the sharpest weapon for Periyar. On 16th December 1926 in KudiAasru, he traced the history of the different nationalities and pointed out that there had been evil forces everywhere opposed to the formation of society based on equality. Periyar was trying to make the Non-Brahmins to realize their plight. He supported the Justice party, though he had not identified with it. He launched on 2nd May 925 the Self Respect Movement (SRM). The period between 1925 and 1929 was formative period in the development of an ideology for the SRM in Tamilnadu. Periyar along with his followers toured different parts of Tamilanadu and formed a number of Self Respect Leagues in 1929. These Leagues functioned with different names such as non-Brahmin League or Anti-Purohit Association or other Non-Brahmin Caste Association. EVR and S.Ramanathan had started publishing an English Weekly 'Revolt' form Erode, which had popularized the SRM ideals to the people other than Tamil.

The first Self-Respect Conference was held at Chengalpattu on 17th and 18th February
1929. With much pomp and show and with Government's support and sympathy about four to five thousand people belonging to different castes, communities and professions, hailing from different parts of south India attended it. Many stalwarts like P.T. Rajan, Dr.Subbaroyan, then Chief Minister of Madras, an important leaders of Justice party attended the conference. Chengalpattu conference was unique in its nature because it did not only give theoretical ideologies, but it practically observed the principal of equality. Through self-respect movement Periyar emerged as a great leader of the non-Brahmin movement in South India.