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HomePolitical History of IndiaAs Congress tries to appropriate the ‘shining legacy’ of Periyar, here’s what Jawaharlal Nehru...

As Congress tries to appropriate the ‘shining legacy’ of Periyar, here’s what Jawaharlal Nehru said about the anti-Hindu activist

“The Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru considered it a sacrilegious act and in an outburst of anger remarked that “old and senile men like Periyar deserved a place more in a lunatic asylum than in public life,” it quoted PM Nehru as saying.

In a rather ironic twist of political remembrance, the Congress party on 24th December decided to honour anti-Hindu activist EV Ramaswamy aka Periyar on his death anniversary. The same DMK icon, the Congress party today called a “pioneer of social justice and rationalism”, whom Congress stalwart and India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru called a “lunatic”.

Taking to X, Congress said: “Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, a pioneer of social justice and rationalism, inspired generations to fight caste discrimination and gender inequality. His relentless advocacy for self-respect and equality continues to empower marginalized voices. Today, we honour his shining legacy!”

While in the present political scenario, the Congress party is in alliance with the Dravida Munetra Khazhagam (DMK) and is honouring Periyar’s supposed ‘shining legacy’, PM Nehru hardly found any luster in Periyar’s anti-Hindu activism.

In a letter [pdf] to Madras Chief Minister Kumaraswami Kamaraj on November 5, 1957, PM Nehru stated, “I am much distressed by the anti-Brahmin campaign continuously carried on by E.V. Ramaswami Naicker. I wrote to you I think about this some time ago, and I was told that this matter was under consideration.”

“I find that Ramaswami Naicker is going on saying the same thing again and calling upon people at the right time to start stabbing and killing. What he says can only be said by a criminal or a lunatic,” he pointed out.

PM Nehru told the Madras Chief Minister, “I do not know him adequately to be able to decide what he is, but one thing is clear to me that this kind of thing has a very demoralizing effect on the country. All the anti-social and criminal elements imagine that they can act in this way also.”

Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India was of the view that anti-Brahmin ‘activists’ such as Periyar should be placed in a mental asylum, meant for the treatment of ‘perverted minds.’

Nehru wanted CM Kamaraj to stop Periyar’s hate campaign against Hindus

Nehru had reiterated, “I suggest, therefore, to you that there should be no delay in dealing with this matter. Let him be put in a lunatic asylum and his perverted mind treated there. I do not understand anyone telling me that the law does not allow us to take action unless actual killing takes place.”

“The law is often very foolish but it is not quite so foolish as to permit a campaign of incitement to murder,” PM Nehru said in his letter dated November 5, 1957.

He had written the letter to the Madras CM after Periyar organised a convention in Tanjavur to demand the removal of constitutional provisions that guaranteed the Right to Freedom of Religion.

Multiple references of Nehru calling for Periyar to be sent to ‘lunatic asylum’

The letter by the Congress leader is produced on Page 387 of ‘Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Second Series, Volume 40.’

A book on Madras State’s fourth CM, C. N. Annadurai, written by PC Ganesan also makes reference to PM Nehru dubbing Periyar as an ‘old and senile’ man who deserved to be in a lunatic asylum.

The Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru considered it a sacrilegious act and in an outburst of anger remarked that “old and senile men like Periyar deserved a place more in a lunatic asylum than in public life,” it quoted PM Nehru as saying.

Periyar and his anti-Hindu views

Periyar was a vehement advocate of anti-Hinduism and anti-Brahminism.  Many EVR apologists today indulge in the propaganda that EVR never advocated racial hatred against Brahmins. However, EVR was explicit in his agenda.

The magazine Periyar edited published articles praising the ascendancy of Adolf Hitler and warned Brahmins in Tamil Nadu that they should learn from the plight of Jews in Nazi Germany and opt for course correction.

He reportedly used to tell his followers that if they ever encountered a Brahmin and a snake on the road, they should kill the Brahmin first.

Periyar, in his lifetime, spread numerous canards about the Ramayana. All his lies were directed towards slandering the God who is considered Maryada Purshottam by Hindus. His lies ranged from accusing Shri Rama of being casteist to claiming that he killed and mutilated women.

Periyar not only claimed that no ‘North Indian Brahmin’ died in the war against Ravana but further propagated that Lord Rama had married women other than Sita for his sexual pleasure. He had also claimed that Lankan King Ravana was, in fact, a Dravidian King from South India.

Periyar had also burnt pictures of Lord Rama, who is one of the most revered Hindu gods. This is not all, Periyar is notorious for organizing a procession in Salem in Tamil Nadu with big cutouts of “Ram”, “Sita” and “Hanuman” garlanded with slippers.

Apart from his hatred for Lord Rama, Periyar also broke the statues of Lord Ganesha. In fact, all his deeds reflected the visceral hatred that he harboured towards Hindus and Brahmins.

Fast-forward to 2023, and Periyar’s venomous anti-Brahmin ideology and activism are entrenched in the politics of the DMK. Last year, Udhayanidhi Stalin, the son of the sitting Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, and a cabinet minister himself, equated Sanatan Dharma to Dengue, Malaria, and Coronavirus while calling for its eradication.

“Mosquitoes, dengue, flu, malaria, corona – we should not oppose these things. They’ve to be eradicated completely. The same is the case with Santanam (Hinduism). Our first work should be to abolish/eradicate Sanatanam instead of opposing it. So, my appreciation to you all for giving an apt title to the meeting,” he stated. 

Another leader of his party A Raja said that Sanatan Dharma should be compared to diseases with social stigma like HIV and leprosy.

Despite the continued disparaging of Hinduism by Periyar and his ideological heir DMK,  the Congress party honours the ‘shining legacy’ of Periyar, in a complete disregard for what its own stalwart Nehru opined about the anti-Brahmin activist.

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