Talk:Periyar E. V. Ramasamy

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 * For how long are we still to remain ‘sudras’ and allow our progeny also to be ‘sudras’, in this world? Should we not do something to attain human dignity, devoid of our ills, at least in this generation, during this age of science, of scientific freedom? Is there a nobler deed than this for us? It is for this reason that I have dedicated the whole of my life for this cause: and not out of any perversity or spite.


 * Some say that eradication of caste is communalism, and hatred for the high-castes. Are we communalist? Have we ever harmed a single Brahmin, or set fire to a Brahmin locality? An appeal for the abolition of caste is not to be considered class-hatred.


 * Is it necessary that there should be divisions of high (Brahmins) and low (Panchamas) castes in society? If it is said that God is responsible for this, should those of the lowly castes (panchamas and Sudras) worship Him?


 * Man is considered superior to other beings in this world, because he has limitless capacity for knowledge, People in other lands have advanced greatly, utilizing this knowledge. But our countrymen owing to lack of use of this knowledge, are abjectly deteriorating. Stating that ours is a land of enlightenment, we build tanks and temples; in other lands, men fly in space and amaze the whole world.


 * Why should there be high caste and low caste in the country of India, which is said to have gained independence. Can any one say that things could go on only when there is high caste in the country? Can it be argued that the high caste Brahmins alone are people with sterling character.


 * If one is to be considered high, some one should show some just reason. Brahmin calls himself high and superior. In what respects is he superior to others? Are there not Brahmins who are connected with all the trades in the world good and bad? Do we not see them eating all things as others?


 * Our country would be considered to have gained independence only when the villagers are completely rid of god, religion, castes, and blind beliefs. South India is quite different from the North in many respects. It is a distinct and separate State of Dravidian race.


 * My request to the Brahmins is this “if you are not willing to live with us in unity, go to hell. At least keep away from putting hurdles in the path of our Dravidians unity”.


 * The idols, the Vedas which breed ignorance, Upanishads, Manu code, Baratham and other literature which make the people foolish would be driven out of our Tamil Nadu borders”.


 * The common man thinks that the marriage is like appointing one to do his work. The husband thinks so! The husband’s family thinks so. Every one thinks that a girl is coming to the family to do work. Even the girl’s family trains the girl to do the household work.


 * If we can divert the wealth of the temples and the income accruing to the temples, to start new industries there will be no beggar, no uneducated man, and no man with a low status. There will be a socialist society with perfect equality.


 * What pride is there in saying that the Britishers are gone. In their place traders like Marwadis, Gujuraties, and Banias of North India have settled down here in Tamil Nadu. They are exploiting freely. When we see the exploitation of these Northerners, we feel that we can even forget the Brahmins.


 * Even if the Brahmin swindles money he spends it here in Tamil Nadu. He is going to die here. But it is not the case with the North Indians. When opportunity arises he takes away gold, silver, copper and cash and goes away beyond 2000 miles with his bag and baggage.


 * Temples are thrown open to all. But it is the Brahmins only who still enjoy the right to ring the bell, and snatch away the coins falling in the plate. The lakhs of rupees spent in the name of temples is Dravidian money. Should it not be shared by our Dravidian people? A low caste Hindu converting himself to other religions will not gain anything, if his status remains the same in the new religion.


 * Thiruvalluvar has not mentioned a single word about God in his 1330 couplets. He has simply taken a few outstanding qualitities attributed to God for the purpose of explaining. Even in that, he has abstained from describing god in a definite form. When such is the greatness of Kural, it cannot be said that Kural is not useful to make the people tread the right path.


 * Valluvar who is hailed by the educated and uneducated lays stress of good conduct only. He has praised the Dravidians as the people of very high character. The only remedy for all Aryan ills is the Kural. Many poets have already expressed the same view. Kural exposes the Aryan traits and foolishness. So, follow Kural in your life and gain more and more wisdom.

censorship
removed quotes were sourced and one was about him not from him

it is well known that he had strong opinions on many topics like Brahmins and many other things. that is not anything controversial.

just a quick search and i found these as examples:


 * He let loose a gang of hooligans every time he spoke against the Brahmins much the same way Hitler did of the Jews . What have these leaders done for the untouchables ? What Congreess and Gandhi bave done to the untouchables is known.
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 * ‘all Tamil Brahmins must be killed and all temples and murtis destroyed’.
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 * As for Islam, Periyar once wrote about the Hijab, stating it was a ‘visual prison in the name of religion’. However, after facing a massive backlash from the community, he changed tunes and said, “If, to shun the religion that imposes untouchability on them, Ambedkar and his followers turn to Islam for succour rather than to atheism, we would not have any objections to it.”
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 * The Dalit movement became a major political and intellectual force to reckon with. The leaders of the movement placed an extra emphasis on Dalit education and public employment opportunities. But Periyar ridiculed this effort saying “Asking the government for jobs, education, duties, huts and housing; and seeking from the Mirasdars two extra measures of paddy is a shame.” During the infamous Keezhvenmani incident on 25th December, 1958 when 44 Dalit labourers were burnt alive by Zamindars for demanding a raise in wages, Periyar refused to condemn the incident and instead said, “Labourers should simply accept the wages offered to them by the land-owners instead of demanding more than what they deserve”, thus completely ignoring the violent, casteist angle to the incident.
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 * “Periyar” was not one who championed women rights. In fact, he never did anything to earn them the right to properties, he says.“If you scrutinise his life and actions, it is clear that he, at the most, championed the cause of the Backward Class and not Dalit,” adds Venkatesan, who wonders why Dravidian leaders celebrate “Periyar” for nothing.
 * Ma Venkatesan in


 * Now, let's see some quotes of Periyar."The Dravidian movement is not against the Brahmins. It is against Brahminism as a concept. We will not tolerate its ways of degrading other people."Later he goes on to say,"If you encounter a snake and a Brahmin, kill the Brahmin first."He also calls for destruction of Brahmins."Only if the Brahmins are destroyed will castes be destroyed. They are snakes coiled around our feet and they will not hesitate to bite. We should not hesitate to destroy them."He even took a dig on the poet Bharathi when he wrote that, "They say he(Bharathi) is an immortal poet. Even if a rat dies in agraharam (the part of town for Brahmins), they will glorify it. Why should this man be glorified? Because he sang in Tamil and about Tamil Nadu? What else could he sing about. His mother tongue Sanskrit has been dead for years. He calls Tamil Nadu the land of aryans."
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 * When a Dravidianist said that EV Ramasamy fought for the freedom of women, Kalyanaraman had mockingly said that “perhaps EVR went to prostitutes to liberate them and Karunanidhi also went to a prostitute for the same reason”.
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 * In 1953, Periyar organized agitations for the desecration of Ganesha idols. He had elaborated extensively on the motivations behind the breaking of the idols. He had said in a speech in 1953, “We have to eradicate the gods who are responsible for the institution which portrays us as sudras, people of low birth, and some others as Brahmins of high birth. While the former go on toiling, without any education, whereas the latter can remain without exerting themselves. We have to break the idols of these gods. I start with Ganesa because it is he who is worshipped before undertaking any task.”In 1953, Periyar conducted an agitation of breaking the Pillayar (Ganesa) idols, the purpose for which he putforth in the following words:“We have to eradicate the gods who are responsible for the institution which portray us as sudras, people of low birth, and some others as Brahmins of high birth. While the former go on toiling, without any education, whereas the latter can remain without exerting themselves.  We have to break the idols of these gods.  I start with Ganesa because it is he who is worshipped before undertaking any task.”“When I say I am going to break idols no one should think that I am going to do it inside the temples or that I will enter the temple and create a ruckus there.  No one will enter the temple.  We will either ask potters to make idols resembling the god or buy the painted ones sold in the shops.  We will publicise when and where the breaking is to take place, gather people and break them on the roadsides.  I assure that no one will remove or cause any damage to the temple idols.”
 * – (From periyar speech at Mangudi, 28th April 1953)