Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Haasan’s debut speech in the Rajya Sabha, in which he launched a scathing attack on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over her remarks on Dravidar Kazhagam founder Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, has again cast the spotlight on one of Periyar’s most controversial assertions: Tamil is a barbaric language. The Minister had accused DMK leaders of displaying the portrait of a man who had described Tamil in such disparaging terms. Unlike many political figures who reconsider their position in the face of public outcry, Periyar remained resolute and unapologetic. A rationalist who fought for self-respect and firmly believed that Hinduism was inherently casteist, he had little patience for Tamil literary texts that, in one way or another, promoted the idea of God and justified the notion that greatness depends on one’s birth.
He went so far as to pen a detailed exposition defending his characterisation of Tamil, articulating his point with characteristic bluntness. Yet, other than a committed band of Periyarists, none of his ideological heirs was prepared to endorse such a stark view. His political successors — including C.N. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi — distanced themselves from his position on the Tamil language, the Tirukkural, and the Silappathikaram, though they maintained their distance from the Bhakti literature too.
