- E. V. K. Sampath
Infobox Politician
honorific-prefix =
name =E. V. K. Sampath
honorific-suffix =
birth_date =
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death_date =February 23 ,1977
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spouse =Sulochana Sampath
children =E. V. K. S. Elangovan
nationality =India n
party =Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ,Indian National Congress Erode Venkatta Naicker Krishnasamy Sampath _ta. ஈரோடு வெங்கட நாயகர் கிருஷ்ணசாமி சம்பத்), usually referred to as "E. V. K. Sampath" was a prominent
politician fromTamil Nadu ,India . He was an advocate ofDravidian Movement ofPeriyar E. V. Ramasamy and was considered by some as his political heir. [ [http://sify.com/news/politics/fullstory.php?id=13493522 Priest-less weddings in TN VIP families - Sify News] ] He later split from Periyar'sDravidar Kazhagam to formDravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) along withC. N. Annadurai . [http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=0030-851X(196424%2F196524)37%3A4%3C396%3ATDATPO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-U The DMK and the Politics of Tamil Nationalism - Robert Hardgrave] ] In spite of being one of the founders of DMK he later left and formed his own party, by the name,Tamil National party . Nevertheless, he later merged his party with theIndian National Congress . He is a formerMember of Parliament from the constituency ofNamakkal [ [http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/lok02/alpha/02lss.htm Members of second Lok Sabha] .]He belonged to a politically active family. He was nephew of Periyar and his father was an active politician himself. He is also the father of other prominent politicians of Tamil Nadu, namely,
E. V. K. S. Elangovan andIniyan Sampath and his wifeSulochana Sampath too was in active politics, holding high ranks within the Tamil Nadu government.Family
Sampath was born in a Kannada speaking Balija Naidu family as the son of
E. V. Krishnasamy , the elder brother ofPeriyar E. V. Ramasamy . Krishnasamy had extended extensive support to Periyar in his struggle for self-respect and social justice, and was one of the publishers of the journalKudiarasu (Republic), the party organ for Justice party. Through Kudiarasu, Periyar and Sampath would publish articles against theBritish Raj . For this support to the journal he was arrested.In the year 1946 Sampath married Sulochana the daughter of Thirupathur G. Samy Naidu who was one of the pillars of the Justice party. Much later in life Sulochana Sampath will hold various high positions in the Tamil Nadu State Government including member of social welfare board, syndicate member of
Annamalai University , Chairperson ofTamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board , Chairperson ofTamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation , Chairperson of Tamil Nadu Text Book Society and Chairperson of Tamil Nadu Small Scale Industries Development Corporation. Their first daughter Dr. Nagammal Venkatesh M.D, Fellow of American board of Nuclear Medicine is a Medical Practitioner in California. Their second child E.V.K.S. Elangovan is a former President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and at present a Union Minister of State for Textiles. Their third child Gouthaman is an entrepreneur. Mathivanan, their fourth child is a Senior Executive in the CMDA. Iniyan Sampath their last son is a former president of the Tamil Nadu Youth Congress and the Secretary of the TNCC and at present functions as the State Vice-President of the Congress Human Rights Department. Their last child Anbezhil Surya Rajukumar is a house wife. [http://iniyan.in/familybackground.htm Family background - Iniyan Sampath] ]Entry into politics
He was attracted to Periyar's self-respect movement since early days of his life. The movement aimed at achieving a society where
backward castes have equalhuman rights , [citebook|title=Political Theory and Political Thought |author= N.D. Arora/S.S. Awasthy|id=ISBN 8124111642|url= http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN8124111642&id=szBpnYfmH0cC&pg=PA425&lpg=PA425&dq=%22Self-respect+movement%22&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=zyuKCxtk4jFplHL8Y_JeaiDUb94] and encouraging backward castes to haveself-respect in the context of acaste based society that considered them to be a lower end of the hierarchy. [citebook|title=Political Ideas in Modern India: thematic explorations |author= Thomas Pantham, Vrajendra Raj Mehta, Vrajendra Raj Mehta,|year= 2006|publisher=Sage Publications|id=ISBN 0761934200|url= http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0761934200&id=KJejtAaonsEC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=%22Self-respect+movement%22&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=2MFf1OTrHpydPFBq6ZS4SdlaHjs] As a student of the Intermediate Course inPachaiyappa's College inChennai , he participated in the programmes and agitations of DK. In the year 1944 he was declared as the Commander-in-chief of the "Black Shirt Brigade" of Periyar's movement.In DMK
In 1949, he along with Annadurai split from the DK and formed their own party DMK.. The breakaway is attributed to the marriage of Periyar to a lady much younger. [ [http://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-periyar280603.htm Periyar's movement - Counter currents] ] The DMK picked up the Tamil Nationalistic ideologies from its parent organisation but upheld the principles of democratic party organisation. In the inaugural function they had kept one empty chair on the head of the dais for Periyar, saying that he was their permanent leader. [ [http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=204&page=36 Selective atheism of Karunanidhi - Organiser] ] However, faced with the reality of an independent India setting in motion the democratic process under a new Constitution, DMK preferred to keep the separatist issue on the backburner. [http://www.flonnet.com/fl2108/stories/20040423007201600.htm A history of agitational politics - Frontline] ]
Heading the Anti-Hindi agitations
On the 26th January, 1965, the fifteenth anniversary of India's constitution coming into force was suppose to mark the end of English as an
official language of India and Hindi to be used as the sole official language according to the terms of constitution. DMK spearheaded theAnti-Hindi agitations in Madras with Sampath heading the masses. Soon after Indian Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru sent a letter to Sampath assuring that Hindi would not be imposed on Tamils. [ [http://www.geocities.com/tamiltribune/03/0101.html A Chronology of Anti-Hindi Agitations in Tamil Nadu and What the Future Holds] ] In 1965 made the then Union Government in India change its language policy to allow English to continue as an official language. [cite journal
last = Forrester
first = DB
title = The Madras Anti-Hindi Agitation, 1965: Political Protest and its Effects on Language Policy in India
journal = Pacific Affairs
volume = 39
issue = 1/2
pages = 19-36
publisher = JSTOR
date = 1966
accessdate = 2008-04-21] [cite news
title = Tongue tied
publisher = India Today
date = December 20, 2007
url = http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/tongue-tied-5.html
accessdate = 2008-04-21] This agitation catapulted the party to political power in the State in the 1967 elections.Breakaway from DMK
In 1961 along with Tamil poet
Kannadasan andPazha Nedumaran he found a new partyTamil National party . The break away is variably attributed to be caused by personal difference that arose because of ascendency ofM. Karunanidhi in the party [ [http://sangam.org/taraki/articles/2006/06-10_Karunanadhi.php?uid=1789 Quo Vadis Karunanidhi? - Illankai Tamil Sangam] ] and also to the differences in DMK's call for independent nation ofDravida Nadu . Sampath’s ideologies varied from those of Annadurai. The latter preferred constitutional means in pursuing a Tamil state and was keen on contesting in elections for the same. Sampath found Annadurai too moderate and pressed for moreradical policies,direct actions and militant methods. Moreover, Annadurai was politically inclined towardsRajagopalachari ’sSwatantra Party , whereas Sampath was keen to ally with theCommunist Party of India . Citation
last = Rudolph
first = L
title = Urban Life and Populist Radicalism: Dravidian Politics in Madras
journal = The Journal of Asian Studies
volume = 20
issue = 3
pages = 283-297
url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/view/2050816?seq=8.] Later one more founder members of DMK, actorSivaji Ganesan would move to Sampath's TNP, [ [http://www.upperstall.com/people/sivaji.html Sivaji Ganesan - Memorable] ] after his feud with the DMK leadership and calling it a "glamour party".Merger into Congress
In 1964 Sampath, with invitation from
Kamaraj merged his party with the Congress. Sampath later started Congress journals namely "Tamil Cheithi, Jayaberigai (Dailies) and Alaigal" (Weekly), but incurred heavy financial losses. To ensure the victory of the Congress Parliament candidates in Tamil Nadu,Indira Gandhi entrusted the entire election responsibility in the hands of Sampath in the year 1977. Sampath was made secretary of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and later appointed as the Vice-President of the TNCC. It was Sampath who translated the speeches made by Indira Gandhi into Tamil. Sampath donated his property, 'Jawahar Illam', at Erode, to be used as the Erode District Congress Committee head quarters. Till date the head quarters functions there. Sampath died on 23rd of Feruary, 1977.References
External links
* [http://iniyan.in/familybackground.htm Family history of E. V. K. Sampath]
ee also
*
Dravidian parties
*Dravidian movement
*Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
*E. V. K. S. Elangovan
*Anti-Hindi agitations
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