Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and The Indian National Congress - Reasons For Leaving

Reasons For Leaving

Periyar was initially an enthusiastic supporter of Non-Cooperation movement but left the Congress in 1925 as he believed that the Congress was neither able nor willing to provide importance to the concerns of non-Brahmins. He was particularly angered by Gandhi's pro-Brahman speeches in Madras during his trip in 1927.

When Periyar joined the Congress in 1919, he believed that the prominent people in that organization were enlightened and hoped that with their co-operation, he could get rid of the practice of untouchability. Furthermore, Periyar believed that people of the backward and depressed classes could be enabled to have proper education and have their proper share in government appointments through the help of the Congress Party. Periyar unsuccessfully tried to get passed a resolution regarding communal representation five times. Soon after his return from Vaikom, Periyar made the last and sixth attempt at getting the Tamil Nadu Congress to pass the resolution regarding communal representation at a conference held in Kanchipuram in 1925. Thiru V.Ka was the President at the time and sensing opposition in the open session, he did not permit Periyar to propose the resolution. In utter disgust, Periyar left the Congress.

So by the time Periyar resigned from the Congress, he knew that in order to enable the backward community people to come up, they must be made to realize that they had the right to claim equality with the so called upper classes, and that, in fact, they had the right to claim proportionate representation in public offices. Thus, some of these themes constituted the platform of his future work. It should be said to the credit of Periyar that his repeated public meetings on the question of communal representation forced the government to pass G.O.No.1129 on December 15, 1928 by which Brahmins, non-Brahmins, Christians, Muslims and depressed classes were assured of proportionate representation in public offices.

Periyar felt that the Brahmins, who formed a majority in the Indian National Congress and occupied the high posts, desired to dominate the party. Periyar was against the activities of the Brahmin leadership, which he felt, conspired to secure the high posts in the party for themselves and members of their community As soon as Periyar joined the Indian National Congress, he tried to introduce the usage of khadi. However, he soon got the impression that the Khadi Board Administration was dominated by Brahmins. The affairs of this Board also convinced Periyar that in order to get justice done to non-Brahmins in Tamil Nadu, he must leave the Congress and work from outside.