iamencyclopedia

  PERIYAR              Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy   commonly known as  Periyar , also referred to as  Thanthai Periyar was born in   17 September 1879 . He was an Indian  social activist  and politician who started   Self-Respect Movement  and  Dravidar Kazhagam . He is known as the 'Father of the  Dravidian movement '. He did notable work against   gender and caste inequality in  Tamil Nadu .             Periyar stands for a politics that foregrounded social equality, self-respect, and linguistic pride. As a social reformer, he focused on social, cultural and gender inequalities. He asked people to be more rational in their life choices. He argued that women needs to be independent from men, not mere and insisted that they be allowed a equal share in employment. He appealed to people to give up the caste suffix in their names, and to not mention caste. He instituted inter-dining with food cooked by Dalits in public conferences in the 1930s.              He also