1957 Ramnad riots
Encyclopedia
The Ramnad riots were a series of politically
motivated violent clashes that occurred between July and September 1957 in the Ramnad district
and in southern Tamil Nadu
, India
. Congress Reform Committee (CRC) was formed just one month before the 1957 elections to the Lok Sabha
and the Madras state
legislative assembly. Soon CRC began cooperation with the All India Forward Bloc
(AIFB) of U. Muthuramalingam Thevar
. The combined, the CRC-AIFB contested 59 seats in the assembly election (54 candidates from CRC, 5 candidates from AIFB.) There was also an informal understanding with the Communist Party of India
, which did not oppose the CRC.
seat and the Mudukulathur seat in the legislative assembly
of the Madras State
. He had won in both cases, defeating the Congress
candidates. The combined CRC-AIFB formulated a 12-point election manifesto
and emerged as the major opposition alliance in these elections, but could not defeat the Congress government. CRC won 14 seats and AIFB won three. Half of the seats won were from the Ramnad and Madurai districts. Following the election, a joint 'CRC opposition' group was formed in the legislative assembly. This was done to counter the bid of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(which had 16 seats) to hold the post of leader of opposition. Soon five independent assembly members joined the CRC opposition group.
V.K. Ramaswamy Mudaliar was elected leader of the CRC opposition. After the election, Thevar chose to retain his parliamentary seat, and a by-election
was called for the Mudukulathur assembly constituency.
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
motivated violent clashes that occurred between July and September 1957 in the Ramnad district
Ramanathapuram District
Ramanathapuram District is an administrative district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The city of Ramanathapuram is the district headquarters. Ramanthapuram District has an area of 4123 km²...
and in southern Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Congress Reform Committee (CRC) was formed just one month before the 1957 elections to the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
and the Madras state
Madras State
Madras State was the name by which the Indian districts in Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Northern Kerala, Bellary and Dakshina Kannada were collectively known as from 1950 to 1953....
legislative assembly. Soon CRC began cooperation with the All India Forward Bloc
All India Forward Bloc
The All India Forward Bloc is a leftwing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose. The party re-established as an independent political party after the independence of India...
(AIFB) of U. Muthuramalingam Thevar
U. Muthuramalingam Thevar
Ukkirapandi MuthuramalingaThevar , also known as Pasumpon Muthuramalingam Thevar, was an Indian politician. He hailed from the Maravar community, the dominant warrior caste group in his home district in southern Tamil Nadu...
. The combined, the CRC-AIFB contested 59 seats in the assembly election (54 candidates from CRC, 5 candidates from AIFB.) There was also an informal understanding with the Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...
, which did not oppose the CRC.
Background
In the 1957 general elections, U. Muthuramalingam Thevar had contested with both the Aruppukottai parliamentaryLok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
seat and the Mudukulathur seat in the legislative assembly
Vidhan Sabha
The Vidhan Sabha or the Legislative Assembly is the lower house or the sole house of the provincial legislature in the different states of India. The same name is also used for the lower house of the legislatures for two of the union territories, Delhi and Pondicherry...
of the Madras State
Madras State
Madras State was the name by which the Indian districts in Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Northern Kerala, Bellary and Dakshina Kannada were collectively known as from 1950 to 1953....
. He had won in both cases, defeating the Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
candidates. The combined CRC-AIFB formulated a 12-point election manifesto
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
and emerged as the major opposition alliance in these elections, but could not defeat the Congress government. CRC won 14 seats and AIFB won three. Half of the seats won were from the Ramnad and Madurai districts. Following the election, a joint 'CRC opposition' group was formed in the legislative assembly. This was done to counter the bid of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
(which had 16 seats) to hold the post of leader of opposition. Soon five independent assembly members joined the CRC opposition group.
V.K. Ramaswamy Mudaliar was elected leader of the CRC opposition. After the election, Thevar chose to retain his parliamentary seat, and a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
was called for the Mudukulathur assembly constituency.
1957 by-election
The by-election was held on July 1 and when the results were released on July 4, the situation in the area grew tense. The Forward Bloc candidate T.L. Sasivarna Thevar won the election. Gradually, incidents of violent clashes between Thevars (who generally supported the Forward Bloc) and pro-Congress Dalits began to occur. Initially these clashes were limited to a handful of villages, but after some time the violence had spread throughout the constituency.Timeline
- A ‘peace conference’ was held on September 10. It was attended by U. Muthuramalingam Thevar (who had returned the preceding day from DelhiDelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
), T.L. Sasivarna Thevar and Velu (a Dalit assembly member) from the Forward Bloc, a delegation of six Devendrars from the Congress and Veluchamy Nadar (a representative from the Nadar casteNadar (caste)Nadar is one of the prominent castes of Tamil Nadu, South India. The term, Nadar, in Tamil literally means one who rules the land. The Nadars are also commonly called as Annachi . Nadars are an entrepreneurial south Indian caste and constitute 12% of Tamil Nadu's population...
). The conference was convened by the Ramnad district collector. The peace meeting was held in a nearby village called Mudukulathur. Initially all delegates including Emmanuel Sekaran DevendrarImmanuvel DevendrarImmanuvel Devendrar was a freedom fighter and a social reformer. He also worked in the Indian army as 'Havaldar major'. He belongs to Devendra kula vellalar caste. He was murdered on 11 september 1957. His postal stamp was released by the government of India in 2010...
and district collector appealed to Thevar to campaign for peace in all riot affected area but veluchamy Nadar didn't agree. The conference delegates finally decided to give statements independently.
- On September 11 Emmanuel Sekaran Devendrar, the leader of the Devendrar/Congress delegation at the peace conference, was murdered in Paramakudi. He was murdered at age 33. He was Married to Amirtham Grace and he had four female children, Mary Vasantha Rani, Poppin Vijaya Rani, Sundarai Prabha Rani, Jansi Rani.
- On September 13 clashes erupted at Arumkulam. Five Devendrars and three Thevars were killed, and their bodies were thrown unto fire. Two of the Thevars and one of the Devendrars were women.
- On September 14 a group of armed police entered the village of Kulathooval in order to arrest suspects in the Emmanuel Sekaran Devendrar murder case. Five Thevars were killed in police firing. According to Forward Bloc sources, the five were blindfolded and executed. A police inquiry commission later refuted that perception.
- On September 16 clashes erupted in villages like Veerambal, Arumbakkan, Irulandapatti and Sandakottai. In the two latter places sixty Devendrars, including one woman, were killed.
- On the same day the Thevar village of Ilanchambol was attacked by a Devendrar mob, the village had been deserted by the police two days earlier. Five Thevars were killed in the attack. The attack was interrupted as Thevars from the neighboring village of Keelapanayur arrived, driving of the Devendrars and killing two.
- On September 17 police opened fire on Forward Bloc cadres in the village of Keeranthai. Five of the killed were Thevars and one was a Devendrar.
- On September 18 Devendrars houses were torched in Thandikudi.
- On September 19 hundreds of houses, belonging to both Thevars and Devendrars, were torched in the villages of Piramanur, Vadi, Tiruppuvanam, Nallur and Tiruppachatti. On the following day police opened fire on a Thevar mob, but with no casualties.
- On September 20 police firing killed five Thevars, four in Uluthumadi and one in Malavavanenthall. In Veerambal, Thevars stormed a church where a group of Devendrars had sought refuge. Two Devendrars were killed and a further 32 were injured.
- On September 21 more clashes occurred, but from the following day onwards, there were no reported incidents.
- On September 28–29, 1957 CRC held a state conference and reconstituted itself as the Indian National Democratic Congress. Notably, U. Muthuralingam Thevar,one of the inaugural speakers of the event, was arrested just after having delivered his speech.