E. V. Ramasami (1879-1973) Commemoration

E. V. Ramasami, or E.V.R. as he was popularly known, was born on September 17, 1879, in Erode, Tamil Nadu. He left school at the age of ten and joined his father in business when he was twelve. The patriotic fervor of Ramasami led him to give up his lucrative business and join the Indian National Congress in its struggle for freedom. He became an ardent fighter and came to be closely associated with Rajaji. Ramasami courted imprisonment several times during the freedom movement. The satyagraha he launched at Vaikkom in Kerala against the despicable practice of barring entry of people of certain castes into the streets where people of other castes lived was a success, and he earned the title “Vaikkom Hero.” He left the Congress in 1925 and carried on a crusade for prohibition.

E.V.R. strove for the emancipation of the exploited masses and weaker sections of society. In 1925, he founded the Self-Respect Movement, a socio-political organization of which he was the President. He started a weekly, “Kudiyarasu” (Republic), and later a daily, “Viduthalai” (Freedom), to propagate the principles of his movement. In particular, Ramasami preached intercaste marriages and remarriage of widows. It was his firm conviction that orthodoxy, superstition, social discrimination, and many other evils which persisted in society should go. He waged a relentless battle against these till the very end of his life.

In 1938, E.V.R. was elected President of the Justice Party. He started a movement in the cause of Tamil during this period. At the famous Salem Conference in 1944, he and his lieutenant, the late C.N. Annadurai (last Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu), converted the Justice Party into a new organization called “Dravida Kazhagam.” An ardent fighter, an avowed revolutionary, and a hard-headed rationalist, E.V.R. was simple and humane. He passed away on December 24, 1973, at the age of 94.