Periyar was critical of patriarchy. He condemned child-marriage and the devadasi system (institution of temple girls). Right from , when the Self-respect Conferences began to voice its concern over the plight of women, Periyar had been emphasising women’s right to divorce and property. Periyar objected to terms like “giving in marriage”.
This, he said, treats woman as a thing. He wants it substituted by “ valkaithunai ,”(companion) a word for marriage taken from the Tirukkural. Peiyar’s most important work on this subject is Why the Woman is Enslaved ? Periyar believed that property rights for women would provide them a social status and protection.
In , Government of Tamil Nadu fulfilled the dream of radical reformers by the introduction of the Hindu Succession Tamil Nadu Amendment Act of , which ensured the equal rights to ancestral property for women in inheritance. This Act became a trendsetter and led to similar legislation at the national level. Rettaimalai Srinivasan Rettaimalai Srinivasan ( – ), was born in at Kanchipuram. He fought for social justice, equality and civil rights of the marginalised in the caste order.
He was honoured with titles such as Rao Sahib ( ), Rao Bahadur ( ) and Divan Bahadur ( ) for his selfless social services. His autobiography, Jeeviya Saritha Surukkam (A Brief Autobiography), published in , is one of the earliest autobiographies. Rettaimalai Srinivasan who had experienced the horrors of untouchability worked for the progress of the deprived castes. He founded the Adi Dravida Mahajana Sabha in .
He served as president of the Scheduled Castes’ Federation and the Madras Provincial Depressed Classes’ Federation. Rettaimalai Srinivasan Social Transformation in Tamil Nadu A close associate of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, he participated in the first and second Round Table Conferences held in London ( and ) and voiced the opinions of the marginalised sections of the society. He was a signatory to the Poona Pact of .
M.C. Rajah Mylai Chinnathambi Raja ( – ), popularly known as M.C. Rajah, was one of the prominent leaders from the “depressed class”. Rajah started his