Karunanidhi: Kalaingar Who Crafted the Politics of South India
In the biography, Karunanidhi: A Life in Politics, he has confessed that he was greatly influenced by the oratorical skills of the leaders of Self-Respect Movement.
Passing of Karunanidhi marks the end of an era. He was an epitome of Indian politics, before and after independence. Muthuvel Karunanidhi passed away at the age of 94 years, was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for a record 5 times between 1969 to 2011.
Muthuvel Karunanidhi was born in the year 1924, in Tiruvarur, in the state of Tamil Nadu. His public life started quite early at an age of 14 years when he joined the student wing of the Justice Party, which at the time was spearheading a movement to strengthen, Tamil identity. When the whole country was fighting freedom movement against British, Justice Party was fighting orthodox, religious and caste behaviors in South India.
Later he was seen campaigning for the caste supremacy of Brahmins and he has also opposed the move by the central government to impose Hindi as an official language of communication in South India.
In the year 1949, he, along with others founded the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party. As a young leader, he challenged the caste hierarchy of the country and was greatly influenced by the ideals of Self Respect Movement. The movements believed in a society where all have equal rights.
In the biography, Karunanidhi: A Life in Politics, he has confessed that he was greatly influenced by the oratorical skills of the leaders of Self-Respect Movement. He said, “The compelling arguments of Periyar's speeches, the bravery and courage in Azhagiri's sentences, Anna's beautiful Tamil - these mesmerized me”.
Though his radical views sometimes didn’t work for him, his sympathy for the separatist movement in Sri Lanka by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants also cost him his position as chief minister after former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE.
In spite of all odds, he stands out in politics. He is often regarded as the pioneer of the federal politics and known for his coalition equations and skills. He was introduced into the national politics in 1989, when he joined the alliance of National Front with VP Singh as Prime Minister.
Later he also joined the BJP government in 1999 with then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but in 2004 he sided with Congress to defeat the BJP. But again corruption by the members of his party in the National Government led to the defeat of Congress in 2014 and since then BJP is ruling the country.
Apart from politics, Karunanidhi is also known for his artistic talents. He is popularly called Kalaingar, the Tamil word for artist, for his contribution to cinema and literature. He wrote, staged and acted in plays that also campaigned his party ideals. From street plays to cinema, he used all the mediums and became the ideal of Tamil men and women. Even his arc political rivals have admired his vast contribution to Tamil cinema and literature.
In the year 1952, he wrote the screenplay and dialogues for film, ‘Parasakthi’, which was an instant hit and shook the Tamil cinema. A prolific writer, Karunanidhi wrote more than 30 movie scripts, poems, and novels.
Though he didn’t enjoy the fan following like his rivals MG Ramachandran and Jayalalitha did, but his charm and words touched the hearts of many. Karunanidhi leaves behind a unique legacy of a leader who has played both the roles of an artist and a statesman for a record longest period of time.
