New Delhi, March 30: Legendary Tamil politician C N Annadurai, who championed the cause of a separate ‘Dravida Nadu’ for over a decade, gave up his demand in 1963 only in the face of a Constitutional amendment which proscribed secessionist advocacy though he cited the Sino-India war the previous year for his decision, a new book suggests.
In his maiden speech in Rajya Sabha in 1962, Anna surprised everyone, including Jawaharlal Nehru, by calling himself a ‘Dravidan’ and demanded that the southern part of India be should be independent, the book ‘Anna: The Life and Times of C N Annadurai’, says.
However, then Prime Minister Nehru rejected his demand and a year later a Constitution amendment proscribing secessionist advocacy was passed in Parliament.
The book written by R Kannan, a UN diplomat hailing from Tamil Nadu, traces the life history of Anna, from his childhood to his association with Periyar, the legendary
social reformer, to his stint in politics that culminated with his installation as the first non-Congress Chief Minister of the then Madras state.
It also dwells on the anti-Hindi agitation, one of the major issues which catapulted DMK to the echelons of power, and how Anna along with his ‘thambi’ (brother) M Karunanidhi, now the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, made it a national issue.
Despite championing the cause of ‘Dravida Nadu’, the issue never found a mention in the then fledgling DMK’s election manifesto due to differences within the outfit over
the issue, but Anna, as he was populary known, never missed a chance to rake it up.
Apparently stung by the demands for a separate ‘Dravida Nadu’ and to quell the movement, the then Congress Government at the Centre set up National Integration Committee whose recommendation resulted in the 16th Amendment to the constitution forbidding secessionist advocacy.
“The incursion into India’s north-east by Chinese troops in the fall of 1962 would, however, let Anna save face.
“While still in prison for the price rise agitation, Anna, the man who had always sought to divide India’s south from the rest of the country” decided to suspend the demand, the book says.
“We need to get our (Dravida Nadu) from Pandit Nehru. Not from the Chinese…If we don’t like the one in Delhi will we like the one far away in Peking?” remains the famous statement of Anna, which was made just before suspending the ‘Dravida Nadu’ demand.
When the Constitutional amendment was passed in Parliament, Anna’s was the sole voice in the Rajya Sabha asking for reconsideration of the Bill, the book says and adds that thus came the end to the decades-old demand for a ‘Dravida Nadu’, which is today’s South India.
The book says Anna left his mentor and ‘political father’ E V R Periyar in 1949 not just because of the latter’s marriage with a young girl and suggests that this was only one of the reasons for Anna and Periyar’s cousin E V K Sampath to leave him as the duo had differences of opinion on various issues with the social reformer.
The issues related to, the book says, Periyar’s diktat that all Dravidar Kazhagam leaders should wear ‘black dress’ and matter of participating in elections.
The 423-page book also dwells on the unique relationship shared between Periyar and Anna – when they were together and also when they split up.
The two leaders never criticised each other directly, though they never appeared together in public after their split.
It also elaborates on the brotherly relationship between Anna and Karunanidhi.
“It is because of his (Karunanidhi’s) work that DMK has the attention of the whole of India… I the older brother praise Karunanidhi the younger brother because he possesses the ability to accomplish everything he undertakes,” the book quotes Anna as saying, which sums up the equation between the two.
The book also talks about Anna’s initial reluctance in contesting the 1957 elections as he felt that the party should commit itself in electoral politics only after establishing its presence in the state.
However, his proposal was vetoed by the DMK conference in 1956 and DMK contested the elections.
The book also notes how the differences between M Karunanidhi and E V K Sampath affected the party and the way Anna placated both the sulking leaders.
–PTI