cultural and political life. The consciousness of Tamil nationalism emerged in South India due to the impact of these movements. The Idea of Dravida Nadu Indian National Congress strengthened its organisation in Tamil country through the Civil- Disobedience ( Movement. In , Congress won the Madras legislative assembly election and Rajaji became the Chief Minister.
After that he prioritised and implemented two public policies, first one was abolishing untouchability and the second one was adopting Hindi as the National language. Rajaji announcement that Hindi should be a compulsory subject in schools was perceived as an insult to the non- Brahmins pride as Dravidians/Tamilians. EVR Periyar and other Self-respect Movement members organised marches and massive anti-Hindi conferences. (Shiga Miwako and Karashima Noboru, Ed.
) Tamil scholars like Maraimalai Adigal, Tiru.Vi.Kalyanasundaram and others convened a lot of public meetings and created awareness among the people about the imposition of Hindi. EVR Periyar extended his wholehearted support to this agitation. He raised even Maraimalai Adigal Tiru. Vi.Kalyanasundaram a slogan, ‘Tamil Nadu Tamilarukke’ (Tamil State for Tamils).
He organised the Dravida Nadu Conference in and demanded the separate Independent ‘Dravida Nadu’. Kamarajar and Rajaji A consequence of this protests was the demand for the separated state for the non-Brahmin people, which also included the Tamils, Telugus, Kannadigas and Malayalees. In , E.V. Ramasamy reorganised the Justice Party into Dravidar Kazhagam in the Salem conference in order to streamline the voice of the Tamils upon the social cause and for the upliftment of the Tamils.
Periyar’s Salem Conference was noted for its militancy and mass arousing spirit. Now, the object of the Dravidar Kazhagam was to proclaim a sovereign independent Dravidian Republic, which would be federal in nature with four units corresponding to the linguistic divisions, each having residuary powers and autonomy of internal administration. However, the struggle for Dravida Nadu could not get the support outside the Tamil speaking territory. The Idea of the State of Dakshina Pradesh Rajaji initiated the creation of a new concept of political state in South India.
This initiation was to