Rettamalai Srinivasan

• Rettamalai Srinivasan is a social justice icon who carried an indomitable spirit fighting for equality and civil rights for the Dalits rubbing shoulders with another great icon of modern India, Ambedkar.

• Rettamalai Srinivasan was born on 7th July 1859 in the Village Kozhiyalam, Maduranthagam Taluk, Kancheepuram District.
• His Father name is Rettamalai.
• Srinivasan was fondly called as Thatha by the people.

Early Life

• He graduated Bachelor of Law at Coimbatore Government Arts College.
• He was considered as the first graduate among the Scheduled Caste.
• He got married with Renga Nayaki in 1887.

Initial stage Activism

• He was the brother-in-law of the famous Dalit ideologue Pandit Iyothee Thass.
• After the death of his first wife, Iyothee Thass married Srinivsan’s sister Dhana Lakshmi.
• During the early days of his political career in Nilgiris, he closely worked with the Theosophical society and Henry Steele Olcott.
• He also served as the president of Scheduled Castes Federation, Madras and Madras Provincial Depressed Classes Federation.
• After coming to Chennai in 1890, Rettamalai Srinivasan established and led the Paraiyar Mahajana Sabha in 1891 which later became Adi-Dravida Mahajana Sabha in 1893.
• He redeemed Panjami Lands and facilitated for getting House Pattas, Agricultural lands and Education for children in 1894.
• In the year 1895, British Official Viceroy Lord Elsin Visited Chennai, Rettamalai Srinivasan met him along with the people and handovered grievance petition.
• He organized a meeting on Dec 23, 1893 at Wesleyan Missionary Hall in Madras against the Congress petition demanding that Indian Civil Services Examination should be conducted in India.
• He opposed the move and said that if caste Hindus become civil servants, they will suppress the poor Depressed Classes (DCs).
• He gave a counter petition signed by 3412 people and submitted it to General Sir George Chesney at a massive meeting.
• The above event made the Depressed Classes assert themselves and fight for their rights at that point of time.
• In October 1893 he founded a Tamil newspaper at the age of 32, called ‘Paraiyan’, which highlighted the sufferings of the Depressed Classes (Who was later classified as Scheduled Castes).
• The magazine came out for 7 years and when he left India for South Africa it had a slow death.
• On October 21, 1898 he submitted a petition to the Government how the children of the Depressed Classes were denied admission in many schools.
• Responding to his petition the government issued an order that the Chennai Municipality should establish schools.

With Gandhi

• From 1900 to 1921 he left India and went to East Africa and then to South Africa.
• Srinivasan had the opportunity to listen to Gandhi’s talk in Zanzibar in East Africa in 1902 but met him at Phoenix in South Africa during 1906.
• He worked as a translator in a South African court when Gandhi was practicing there as an advocate.
• He was instrumental in Gandhi putting his signature in Tamil as "Mo.Ka. Gandhi" (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in Tamil).
• He met Gandhi thrice at Yeravada Jail on the Poona Pact issue, though critical of his stand on issues of untouchability, religion-based reforms and separate electorates.
• He states that “Gandhiji a great soul, on behalf of depressed classes, collected lakhs of rupees and had spent them on the education of their children, fought so many years to eradicate untouchability but was not able to change the heart of the caste Hindus.”

Later Part in India

• In 1921 he returned to India.
• In 1923, he was nominated for the Madras Legislative Council. Till 1929, he was a member of MLC.
• Srinivasan was instrumental in bringing legislations that allowed the DCs to use the public streets, buildings, wells and market.
• In 1922, MC Rajah passed a resolution demanding that the terms Paraiya and Panchama be dropped from official usage and instead be substituted with Adi-Dravida and Adi-Andhra.
• But even after two years there were violations in this regard.
• Srinivasan raised this concern in the house.
• He also sought to abolish the dominance of Caste Hindus in the Village Administrative Officer posts which was implemented by MGR government in 1980.
• He was also instrumental in formation of a Labour Welfare Department in 1919 by the British government to ameliorate the sufferings of the Depressed Classes.
• He was the president of the first Adi Dravidars Provincial Conference held at Pachiayappan College of Chennai in 1928.
• He also demanded complete prohibition in the state at the Legislative Council.
• His wrote his autobiography on his own, Jeeviya Sarithira Surukkam (A Brief Autobiography). It was published in 1939.

With Ambedkar

• Srinivasan worked closely with Babasaheb Ambedkar.
• He states that, “Both me and Ambedkar worked as nail and flesh, we both went as representatives of the DCs at the Second Round Table Conference in London and fought for their political rights.”
• In August 1930, R.Srinivasan as the president of Madras Provincial Depressed Classes Federation disapproved the idea of reservation in joint electorates and categorically preferred separate electorates and insisted that representation should be on the basis of their numerical strength and the disabilities faced by them in the region.
• In November 1930, Rettamalai Srinivasan along with Ambedkar got an opportunity to represent the interests of the Depressed Classes.

• Both favoured the extension of minority status to the DCs and felt that such a measure alone could ensure their proper political representation.
• Rettamalai Srinivasan represented the Paraiyars in the first two Round Table Conferences in London (1930 and 1931) along with B. R. Ambedkar.
• In 1932, Ambedkar, M. C. Rajah and R. Srinivasan joined the board of the Servants of Untouchables Society established by Gandhi.
• However, shortly afterwards, the three of them withdrew from the Board, which was later renamed as Harijan Seva Sangh.

Ideologies

• Following Ambedkar’s decision to convert, Srinivasan issued a statement demanding him to reconsider his decision.
• Srinivasan as an M.L.C., in the Provincial government of Madras Presidency and President of Madras Provincial Scheduled Castes Federation maintained consistently that only a Constitution that was planned under the auspices of Parliament in England could serve justice to the Depressed Classes.
• Like Dr.Ambedkar, he believed that Gandhi’s religious approach would not lead to the material improvement of the DCs, but felt that legislations favouring temple entry would definitely improve the social status of the DCs.
• During the Round Table Conferences, Srinivasan brought significant publicity to the state of affairs for Dalits when he refused to shake King George V’s hand, publicly proclaiming, “I am an untouchable”.

Last stage

• Rettamalai Srinivasan breathed his last in the year 1945 at the age of 85.

Honours

• British Government honored him with Rao Sahib in the years 1926 at Madras, Rao Bahadur on 1930, Diwan Bahador in the year 1936.
• He was honored as ‘Dravida Mani’ in the year 1940 presided by Rajaji in the Presence of Thiru Vi.Ka.
• The then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Selvi J Jayalalithaa in 6th July 2011, announced and ordered that 7th July, the birthday of Rettamalai Srinivasan will be celebrated as Government functions is honour of his service.
• A manimandapam has been established for Rettamalai Srinivasan in Gandhi Mandapam Campus in Guindy, Chennai.

• The central government issued commemorative stamps in 2000.
• The Liberation Panthers Party constructed a memorial in Otteri near Madras and named it Urimai Kalam (Field of Rights).

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