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Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (Tamil: காஞ்சீபுரம் நடராஜன் அண்ணாதுரை) (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly called Anna (which means elder brother in Tamil), was a former Chief Minister of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was the first member of a Dravidian party to hold that post and was also the first non-Congress leader to form a majority government in independent India. He was well known for his oratorical skills and was an acclaimed writer in the Tamil language. He had scripted and acted in several plays. Some of his plays were later made as movies. He was the first politician from the Dravidian parties to extensively use Tamil cinema for political propaganda. Born in a middle class family of weavers, he started his career as a school teacher and then moved into the political scene of the Madras Presidency as a journalist. He edited several political journals and enrolled as a member of the Dravidar Kazhagam. As an ardent follower of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy he rose in stature as a prominent member of the party. With differences looming with Periyar, on issues of separate independent state of Dravida Nadu and on inclusion in the Indian Union, he crossed swords with his political mentor. The antipathy between the two finally erupted when Periyar married Maniammai, a lady much younger than him. Angered by this action of Periyar, Annadurai with his supporters parted from Dravidar Kazhagam and launched his own party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The DMK initially followed ideologies the same as the mother party, Dravidar Kazhagam. But with the evolution of national politics and the constitution of India after the Sino-Indian war in 1963, Annadurai dropped the claim of an independent Dravida Nadu. Various protests against the then ruling Congress government took him to prison on several occasions. The last was during the Madras anti-Hindi agitation of 1965. The agitation itself helped Annadurai to gain popular support for his party. His party won a landslide victory in the 1967 state elections. His cabinet was the youngest at that time in India. He legalised Self-respect marriages, enforced a two language policy (over the three language formula in other southern states) for the state, implemented subsidising cost of rice and renamed the Madras State to Tamil Nadu. However, he died of cancer just two years into office and his funeral was the most attended one at that time, holding a Guinness record. Several institutions and organisations are named after him. A splinter party launched by M. G. Ramachandran in 1972 years after the death of Annadurai was named after him as ADMK (Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam).
[edit] Early lifeAnnadurai was born on 15 September 1909 in Kanchipuram (then called Conjeevaram), Tamil Nadu, to Natarajan and Bangaru Ammal in a dominant Mudaliar caste.[1] His father was a handloom weaver.[2] However he was raised by his sister Rajamani Ammal. He married Rani while he was still a student. The couple had no children of their own hence they later adopted and raised grandchildren of Rajamani Ammal.[2] He attended Pachaiyappa's High School,[1] but soon after due to financial crisis in his family he tentatively gave up his studies and worked as a clerk in the town's Municipal office.[2] In 1934, he graduated with a B.A. degree (Hons) from Pachaiyappa's College in Chennai.[1] He followed that up with a M.A degree in Economics and Politics from the same college.[2] He worked as an English teacher[3] in Pachaiyappa High School. Later he quit the teaching job and began involving himself in journalism and politics.[2] [edit] ReligionBy religion Annadurai was a Hindu. He affirmed his belief in God as one, and humanity as one.[4] He said: Onrae Kulam, Oruvane Thevan.[5] His followers using his example use to raise the slogan, "One race, One god". In an interview he said, "Oh, no. I am always pleading for real faith in God."[6] Annadurai would attack superstitions and religious exploitation but would never fight against spiritual values of society.[7] [edit] Entry into politicsSee also: Justice party (India) and Dravidar Kazhagam Annadurai's interest in politics made him join the Justice party in 1935.[8] The Justice party was formed by non-Brahmin elites in 1917.[9] Justice party owes its origin to Madras United League which was initially started as a work group that helped non-Brahmin students in Madras with accommodation and later grew into a political party under the efforts of leaders like Sir Pitti Theagaroya Chetty and Dr. T. M. Nair. The party was christened South Indian Liberal Federation (S. I. L. F.) - popularly known as Justice party.[9] The party had been in power in Madras Presidency since self-governance was introduced in 1920, until it was eventually defeated by the Indian National Congress in 1937.[10] By the time Annadurai joined the Justice party Periyar E. V. Ramasami was the party president.[11] Annadurai served as the sub-editor of the Justice magazine.[2] He later became the editor for Viduthalai (Freedom in English) and was also associated with the Tamil weekly Kudi Arusu. He started his own journal Dravida Nadu (named after the Dravida Nadu - an independent state that the party called for).[2] In 1944, Periyar renamed the Justice party to Dravidar Kazhagam and gave up contesting in the elections.[12] [edit] Differences with Periyar and birth of DMKSee also: Indian independence movement and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Indian National Congress, which had been fighting for the independence of India from the colonial British rule, was dominated by Brahmins. Periyar hence envisaged that independent India would bring South Indians, especially Tamils, under the dominance of Brahmins and North Indians.[13] For these reasons Periyar called for 15 August 1947, the day of Indian independence, to be a day of mourning.[14] Annadurai opposed this move and the schism between his supporters and Periyar widened.[13] He saw the gaining of independence as an overall achievement of India rather than solely that of Aryan North.[8] Moreover Periyar's decision on giving up participating in democratic elections was also opposed by Annadurai for which he walked out in a party meeting in 1948.[8] Periyar considered that contesting in elections will lead to ideological compromises. Moreover, it was Periyar's idea that social reformation can be better achieved outside a political set-up through education and canvassing the masses, rather than governments.[15] Eventually, when Periyar married Maniammai, a lady much younger to him, the personal differences between Annadurai and his supporters with that of Periyar gave way (Periyar was 70 and Mainammai was 30[15]). Annadurai launched his own party with his party fragment, along with E. V. K. Sampath (Periyar's nephew and until then considered his political heir[16]). The new party was christened Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.[17] Although Annadurai belonged to the upper Mudaliar caste, he fought for social justice for the lower castes and thus rapidly gained popular support.[8] [edit] Dravida NaduSee also: Dravida Nadu During his days in Dravida Kazhagam, Annadurai had supported Periyar's call for an independent Dravida Nadu. The claim for such an independent state stayed alive in the initial days of DMK. E. V. K. Sampath, who had earlier forfeited his heirloom with Periyar to join DMK, saw the call for Dravida Nadu as an unreal goal. Responding to Sampath's concern Annadurai said
Sampath's opposition in using film stars made him cross swords with many other members of the party. Eventually, with looming differences with Annadurai and other leaders on Dravida Nadu, Sampath left the DMK and formed his own party, the Tamil Nationalist Party, in 1961.[15] In 1962, Annadurai said in the Rajya Sabha that Dravidians want the right of self-determination ... We want a separate country for southern India.[19] However, the reorganisation of states in India on linguistic basis removed Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam speaking regions from Madras Presidency leaving behind a predominantly Tamil Madras State. Giving in to realities, Annadurai and his DMK changed the call of independent Dravida Nadu for Dravidians to independent Tamil Nadu for Tamils. Annadurai saw that remaining in the Indian Union meant accepting linguistic domination and economic backwardness. Nevertheless, the Sino-Indian war brought about changes in the Indian constitution. The Sixteenth Amendment (most popularly known as the Anti-Secessionist Amendment) banned any party with sectarian principles from contesting with elections. When this amendment was presented in the Parliament of India Annadurai was one of its members. He vehemently debated against the amendment, but eventually could not stop it from being passed. Faced with the new constitutional changes, Annadurai and his DMK left the call for an independent Tamil homeland on the backburner.[20] From then on Annadurai and his DMK aimed at achieving better cooperation between the southern states and claimed more autonomy to Tamil Nadu.[21] On the party's position Annadurai said
[edit] Protests in 1953In 1953, Annadurai directed the DMK to undertake three protests:[15]
[edit] Anti-Hindi agitationsHindi was first recommended to be an apt language for official purposes in India by a committee headed by Motilal Nehru in 1928. Since then this move was opposed by people and politicians of Tamil Nadu, since they considered that it would make them second class citizens when compared to that of native Hindi speaking North Indians.[22] [edit] Protests of 1938In 1938 Congress government in Madras Presidency headed by C. Rajagopalachari (popularly known as Rajaji) proposed the use of Hindi language as a compulsory language in schools. This move was opposed by Tamil leaders. Annadurai along with other Tamil enthusiasts including poet Bharathidasan held demonstrations. Annadurai participated in the first Anti Hindi imposition conference held in Kanchipuram on 27 February 1938. Two members of the protest, Thalamuthu and Natarajan, died as a consequence of police beating the same year. With overwhelming opposition the government of Madras Presidency finally withdrew the order in 1940.[23] [edit] Madras Anti Hindi agitation of 1965Main article: Madras anti-Hindi agitation of 1965 When India became a republic with its own constitution in 1950, the constitution had given special status for Hindi, which was to gain official status after 15 years in 1965. This move was seen with anxiety by students in Tamil Nadu.[22] Speaking of making Hindi as official language of India Annadurai said It is claimed that Hindi should be the common language because it is spoken by the majority. Why should we then claim the tiger as our national animal instead of the rat which is so much more numerous? Or the peacock as our national bird when the crow is ubiquitous?.[24] In view of continued threat to impose Hindi, the DMK held an open-air conference against Hindi imposition at Kodambakkam, Chennai in August 1960, which Annadurai presided over. He gave black flags to leading functionaries, to be shown to the President of India during his visit to the state. Sensing an uprising Prime Minister, Nehru assured in the Parliament that English would continue to be the official language of India, as long as non-Hindi speaking people desire. Eventually DMK gave up the plan of showing black flags and Annadurai appealed to the Union Government to bring about a constitutional amendment incorporating the assurance.[15] With no constitutional amendment done, Annadurai declared 26 January 1965, the 15th Republic Day of India and also the day the Constitution, which in essence enshrined Hindi as the official language of India, came into practice, as a day of mourning. This move was opposed by the then Chief Minister of Madras State, Bhakthavatchalam, as blasphemous. Hence Annadurai, who by then had been trying to shake off the secesstionist image of his party, declared 24 January as a day of mourning. He also replaced the slogan of the protests to Down with Hindi; Long live the Republic. Nevertheless, violence broke out on 26 January, initially in Madurai which within days spread throughout the state.[22] Robert Hardgrave Jr, professor of humanities, government and Asian studies, suggests that the elements contributing to the riots were not majorly instigated by DMK or Leftists or even the industrialists, as the Congress government of the state suggested, but were genuine frustrations and discontentment which lay beneath the surface of the people of the state.[22] With violence surging, Annadurai asked the students to forfeit the protests, but some DMK leaders like Karunanidhi kept the agitations going.[22] Nevertheless, Annadurai was arrested for instigating the agitation.[15] Although the violence were not directly instigated by the DMK,[22] the agitation itself aided DMK to win the 1967 elections and Annadurai became the Chief Minister of Madras State.[25] [edit] Literary contributionsSee also: Cinema in Dravidian politics Annadurai was known as one of the best known Tamil orators during his time.[3] He developed a style in Tamil public speaking using metaphors and pleasing alliterations, both in spoken and written language.[26] He has published several novels, short stories and plays with political themes wound around the script.[3] He himself acted in some of his plays during his time in the Dravidar Kazhagam.[27] He introduced movie media as a major organ for propaganda of Dravidian politics.[28] In total Annadurai scripted six screen plays.[27] His first movie Nalla Thambi (Good Brother, 1948) which starred N. S. Krishnan promoted cooperative farming and abolition of zamindari system.[27] His novels such as Velaikari (Servant Maid, 1949) and Orr Iravu, which were later made into movies, carried the hallmarks of propaganda for Dravidian politics.[29] On Velaikari, Annadurai said that the movie
Velaikari made direct references against the suppressive landlords who were traditionally allied with Jawaharlal Nehru and Gandhi.[12] His movies in general carried the elements of Dravidian political ideologies such as anti-Brahminism and anti Congress messages.[29] Popular stage and cine actors who stood by Anna in early years were D. V. Narayanasamy, K. R. Ramasamy, N. S. Krishnan, S. S. Rajendran, Sivaji Ganesan and M. G. Ramachandran.[15] Some of the books were also controversial, like "Arya Mayai" (Aryan Illusion) where he scathingly attacks the Brahmin/Aryan combine and portrays them in poor light. He was fined Rs 700 for sedition[30] and was also sent to prison.[15] Some of his well known works are his books Annavin Sattasabai Sorpolivukal (Anna's speeches at the state legislative, 1960), Ilatchiya varalaru (History of Principles, 1948), Valkkaip puyal (Storm of life, 1948) and Rankon rata (Radha from Rangon).[3] His work Kambarasam criticises Ramayana of Kamban.[26] His works of fiction such as Kapothipura kathal (Love in the city of Blind), Parvathy B.A., Kalinga rani (Queen of Kalinga) and Pavayin payanam (Travels of a young lady) carried elements of political propaganda.[26] At times when Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was extensively using movies for its propaganda censorship crippled the process. To evade censorships, DMK movies used Annadurai's popular name Anna, which also means elder brother in Tamil, as a pun. When praises were bestowed on the Anna on screen, the crowd would break into applause.[27] [edit] Posts heldThe provincial conference of the DMK was held at Tiruchirappalli in May 1956. Annadurai stepped down from the General Secretaryship of the party, and Nedunchezhian was elected to that position. It was at the Tiruchirappalli conference that the party decided to contest free India’s second general elections which were to be held in 1957. The DMK secured 15 Assembly seats and two parliamentary seats.[15] Anna was elected from his home constituency, Kanchipuram[15] for the first time to the Madras Legislative Assembly.[3] In that election, the DMK won 15 seats and Annadurai became the leader of the opposition in the state.[1] In 1962 the DMK emerged as the major political party in the state other than the Congress, winning 50 seats in the Assembly.[1] Although Annadurai himself lost the elections, he was nominated as a Member of Parliament to the upper house (Rajya Sabha).[1][3] [edit] As chief ministerIn 1967, the Congress lost nine states to opposition parties, but it was only in Madras state that a single non-Congress party majority was achieved.[31] The electoral victory of 1967 is also reputed to an electoral fusion among the non-Congress parties to avoid a split in the Opposition votes. Rajagopalachari, a former senior leader of the Congress party, had by then left the Congress and launched the right-wing Swatantra Party. He played a vital role in bringing about the electoral fusion amongst the opposition parties to align against the Congress.[32] At that time, his cabinet was the youngest in the country.[33] Annadurai legalised Self-respect marriages for the first time in the country. Such marriages were void of priests to preside over the ceremony and thus did not need a Brahmin to carry out the wedding.[34] Self respect marriages were a brainchild of Periyar, who regarded the then conventional marriages were mere financial arrangements and often caused great debt through dowry. Self-Respect marriages, according to him encouraged inter-caste marriages and caused arranged marriages to be replaced by love marriages.[35] Annadurai was also the first to use subsidising of the price of rice for election victory. He promised one rupee a measure of rice, which he initially implemented once in government, but had to withdraw later. Subsidising rice costs are still used as a election promise in Tamil Nadu.[36] It was Annadurai's government that renamed the Madras State to Tamil Nadu. The name change itself was first presented in the upper house (Rajya Sabha) of the Parliament of India by Bhupesh Gupta, a communist MP from West Bengal, but was then defeated.[13] With Annadurai as chief minister the state assembly passed the bill of renaming the states successfully.[11] Another major achievement of Annadurai's government was to introduce a two language policy over the then popular three language formula.[11] The three language formula which was implemented in the neighbouring states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, entitled students to study three languages: the regional language, English and Hindi.[22] It was during the period of his Chief Ministership that the Second World Tamil Conference was conducted on a grand scale on 3 January 1968.[15] Nevertheless, when a commemorative stamp was released to mark the Tamil conference, Annadurai expressed his dissatisfaction that the stamp contained Hindi when it was for Tamil.[37] Annadurai also issued an order for the removal of the pictures of gods and religious symbols from public offices and buildings.[15] He proceeded on a world tour as an invitee of the Yale University's Chubb Fellowship Programme and was also a guest of the State Department in the U.S.A. in April-May 1968. He was awarded the Chubb Fellowship at Yale University, being the first non-American to receive this honour.[15] The same year he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Annamalai University.[1] [edit] DeathAnnadurai died just after two years in office. His health was deteriorating due to cancer and in spite of good medical care he died of his illness on 3 February 1969.[15] His illness was attributed to his habit of chewing tobacco.[33] His funeral had the highest number of attendees until then, as registered with The Guinness Book of Records.[38] An estimate of 15 million people attended the funeral.[39] His mortal remains were buried in the northern end of the Marina Beach and is now called as Anna Square.[40] [edit] LegacyAnnadurai was the only political leader in the national scenario in India during his time who was not involved in Indian independence movement.[33] After his electoral success with his DMK in 1967, the Congress has never returned to power in Tamil Nadu till date. His government was the first in the country to be from a non-Congress party with full majority.[31] When the DMK later split, with M. G. Ramachandran forming his own Dravidian party, the rebel fragment was named after Annadurai as Anna DMK. Sri Lankan Tamil nationalist leaders and writers are considered to be influenced by Annadurai's chaste Tamil movement.[41] Anna University, a premier institution in science and technology was named after him. DMK's current head office built in 1987 is named after him as Anna Arivalayam.[42] One of the major roads in Chennai was named after him as Anna Salai, which was previously called as Mount Road, where a statue of Annadurai now stands.[43] Jawaharlal Nehru hailed him as one of the great parliamentarians for speeches in Rajya Sabha.[44] Selig Harrison, analyst of South Asian and East Asian politics and journalism[45] commented
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