Statue wars: Who was Periyar and why does he trigger sentiment in Tamil Nadu?

NEW DELHI: Soon after the Lenin statue was bulldozed in Tripura after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the state elections, another statue was vandalised in Tamil Nadu by BJP workers, that of E.V. Ramasamy Periyar. The vandalism was apparently provoked by BJP leader H. Raja's Facebook post that said Periyar was next after Lenin. However, Raja later deleted his post and even regretted publishing it.
It seems no political party can afford to openly oppose or criticise Periyar in Tamil Nadu. That's because Periyar began the Dravidian movement that produced DMK, AIDMK and MDMK. Vandalism of the statue of Periyar— a radical Dravida pride activist who also launched movements against caste oppression— could come at a huge political cost.

However, ironically, Periyar had himself started protests that involved burning and breaking of idols of Hindu gods.

Below is a brief introduction to Periyar and his politics:

Who was Periyar?
Erode Venkata Ramasamy Periyar was born in 1879 in what was then called the Madras Presidency to a Kannada businessman and later joined his father's business. He joined the Congress party but left it after he found it to be dominated by Brahmins. Much later, he started his own Dravidar Kazhagam party, which is considered the inspiration of all political parties launched later on the plank of Tamil pride.

What was his politics?
Periyar's thought, philosophy and action revolved around his opposition to Brahminism. He said Brahmins had dominated all other castes through their religious principles and practices. He propounded rationalism and criticised the Hindu religion as superstitious.

However, he believed in the ideas of Tamil saint Thiruvalluvar and hence held faith in the idea of a single, formless God. He found conversion to Islam and Christianity as a way for the lower castes to escape Brahmin oppression as he thought both these religions created better societies than Hinduism. Periyar was also against Mahatma Gandhi because he saw Gandhi not totally rejecting Brahminical ideas and practices.

Periyar's movements
Periyar came to be known widely as a leader of the lower castes after he led a movement in 1924 that demanded entry of Dalits in temples in Kerala. He is known the most for his Self-respect Movement that aimed at generating pride in lower castes. His campaign against imposition of Hindi in Tamil Nadu is the origin of all anti-Hindi movements later in south India. He found Hindi a tool of Brahminical domination of Tamils. His most controversial movement was protests against Hindu idols. The movement involved breaking or burning of idols of Hindu gods or garlanding them with shoes.

Why is Periyar such a big issue today?
Even though many Dalits find Periyar to be a representative of non-Brahmin upper castes, he has been a big anti-caste icon in India. More than that, his importance is due to his centrality to the Tamil pride movement. Today, no political party can hope to succeed in Tamil Nadu politics if it does not swear by Periyar. Even the BJP, which can hope to achieve little in Tamil Nadu politics on its own, cannot afford to be seen opposing Periyar. Perhaps that's by BJP leader Raja regretted his Facebook post against Periyar.