A memorial hall honouring anti-caste social reformer L Elayaperumal will be constructed in Tamil Nadu to mark the birth centenary of the revolutionary Dalit leader, Chief Minister MK Stalin announced in the Assembly on Tuesday, April 18. Invoking Rule 110 of the TN Legislative Assembly Rules, which allows the CM or any minister to make announcements without an ensuing debate, Stalin said the hall will be built at the leader’s birthplace in Cuddalore district’s Chidambaram. On the occasion, he especially noted Elayaperumal’s agitation as a student against the casteist ‘two pot system’ in the schools of Cuddalore.
Elayaperumal was born on June 26, 1924, in a Dalit household at Kattumannarkoil near Chidambaram in Cuddalore. He studied in a school that kept separate water pots for Dalit students with the words ‘pariah pot’ painted on them. According to various accounts of his early life, Elayaperumal used to clandestinely break these pots, until one day, he was caught red-handed by the headmaster. Once he explained to the headmaster why he did what he did, the school is said to have abandoned the two-pot system altogether.
In 1945, at the age of 21, Elayaperumal joined the Indian Army for a brief period. CM Stalin recalled that the leader had faced caste discrimination during his stint in the Army too, which he brought to the notice of his superiors. Within a year, he returned to his hometown of Kattumannarkoil, where he went on to lead many protests against caste discrimination, from demanding education and fair wages to abolition of caste-based jobs imposed on Dalits such as disposing of animal carcasses.
Stalin recalled that from the 1940s to ‘70s, Elayaperumal was a part of many agitations on various social issues in the erstwhile South Arcot and Thanjavur districts of the state. He joined Congress and was elected to the lower house of the first Parliament from Cuddalore constituency in 1952, at the age of 27. A three-time MP, he also went on to represent the Egmore constituency in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Stalin mentioned that the Elayaperumal Committee’s report on Untouchability, Economic and Educational Development of the Scheduled Castes, published in 1969, was the basis of the enactment of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in 1989. “While tabling the report, his office was under attack. Anticipating the attack, Elayaperumal had already given a copy of the report to DMK MP Era Sezhiyan beforehand”, the CM recalled.
Elayaperumal was appointed as the chairperson of the first-ever national-level committee appointed to study the social and economical status of the Scheduled Castes. Based on the recommendations made by what was called the Central Advisory Board for Harijan Welfare at the time, the Department of Social Welfare had constituted the committee to "examine the question of untouchability” and “the problems of economic uplift and educational development of the Scheduled Castes."
Elayaperumal chaired the committee which had six more members — BK Gaikwad, C Dass, R Achuthan, PL Majumdar, Narain Din, and VV Vaze. Then MP SM Siddayya was also a part of the committee. The team was asked to study various aspects of untouchability — particularly the implementation of The Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955 — and any restrictions on the entry of Dalits into public places of worship.
The committee was also tasked with addressing problems with education and economic upliftment of SCs, evaluate the impact of existing welfare schemes, assess the progress achieved so far and recommend remedial measures.
The committee’s first meeting was held on May 5, 1965. Though its tenure was only for six months, the team travelled extensively to various Indian states to conduct the study. An interim report was filed in December 1966, and the final report was submitted in January 1969 to P Govinda Menon, then Union Minister for Law and Social Welfare. The report had five parts — untouchability, education, economic development, public services, and the need for reorganising the existing set-up of the Office of the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. However, the findings of the report were ignored and many of its recommendations were not implemented.
Elayaperumal eventually quit Congress when it failed to stop the DMK government from opening liquor shops in Tamil Nadu. However, he returned to the party on veteran leader Kamaraj’s request. In 1979, he became the president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee. After winning the 1980 Assembly election from Egmore, he reiterated his demand that the Congress-led Union government implement his committee’s recommendations from a decade ago. But the Congress government ignored his request. He passed away in 2005 at the age of 82, his many demands for the upliftment of Dalits remaining unmet.
In his speech, Stalin noted that in 1971, when the state government led by M Karunanidhi abolished hereditary priesthood in Hindu temples, petitions were filed in the Supreme Court challenging the government's decision. The counter affidavits filed by the DMK at the time had mentioned that the decision was made based on the Elayaperumal Committee report.
The Karunanidhi government had amended the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable and Endowments Act in 1971, abolishing hereditary priesthood in temples. When aggrieved parties moved the Supreme Court challenging the amendments, the state government told the court that it was a step towards social reforms based on the recommendations of the Elayaperumal Committee. On March 14, 1972, a five-member Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice SM Sikri and Justices AN Grover, AN Ray, DG Palekar, and MH Beg upheld the amendments in the Seshammal and Ors vs State of Tamil Nadu case.
Stalin also recalled that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, former Tamil Nadu CM Karunanidhi, and Elayaperumal had campaigned together in an open car for the 1980 general election. He also highlighted that Elayaperumal was the first recipient of the ‘Annal Ambedkar Award’, conferred on him by the then CM Karunanidhi in 1998. All political parties, including the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) which was in the Opposition, had welcomed the recognition, Stalin said.