That was an end of an era. After leading an eventful political and personal life, M Karunanidhi, the 94-years-old DMK President died due to age-related ailments at Kauvery hospital today. It might not be a coincidence that a disregard for the classic Tamil language pulled this proud Tamil son into politics.
That was an end of an era. After leading an eventful political and personal life, M Karunanidhi, the 94-years-old DMK President died due to age-related ailments at Kauvery hospital today. It might not be a coincidence that a disregard for the classic Tamil language pulled this proud Tamil son into politics.
‘Long Live Tamil’
Born in Thirukkuvalai village in Nagapattinam district on June 3rd 1924 to a humble couple Muthuvelu and Anjukam, young Muthuvelu Karunanidhi started his active political career when he was as young as 14. The Hindi agitation movement kindled the politician in young Karunanidhi and he was even an ardent follower of firebrand speaker Azhagiriswamy. Following his speeches, Karunanidhi even gathered boys of his age and headed anti-Hindi agitations in his village. During the agitations, he was once came face to face with his Hindi teacher. Young Karunanidhi didn’t fear, he handed his teacher a pamphlet and shouted, “Defeat Hindi! Long live Tamil”.
Then there was no turning back. Karunanidhi soon became popular for his writing and speeches. Karunanidhi also formed the first students’ wing of the Dravidian movement, tamil Manavar Mandram. He gained ground in tamil Nadu politics after the Kallakudi agitation in 1953 during which he protested against the name change of the town from Kallakudi to Dalmiyapuram.
In Legislative Assembly
Karunanidhi was elected to the house 13 times and he became the Chief Minister of the State five times. Karunanidhi became the third Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and he was first elected to the house from Kulithalai constituency in 1957, when he was 33 years old. Later he become the DMK treasurer in 1961 following which he become the minister for public works. After Annadurai passed away in 1969, Karunanidhi become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Karunanidhi had faced multiple defeats against his primary political rival MG Ramachandran. After a brief stint as Chief Minister during the late 1980s (his government was dismissed by the Central government on accusations of degrading Law and Order situation in the state), Karunanidhi became the CM of Tamil Nadu in 1996 following a sweeping electoral win in the preceding elections. Following a 5 year complete rule, his party lost the elections in 2001 with Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK coming to power. Meanwhile, he again came to power after winning 2006 assembly elections. DMK did not win in the following two assemble elections losing to their rival ADMK. He was elected to Tamil Nadu legislative Assembly for a total of 13 times.
Screenwriting and Literature:
Karunanidhi began his career in Tamil film industry as a screenwriter. Using cinema as a medium, he propagated the socialist and rationalist ideals of the Dravidian movement through his writing skills. Parasakthi for which he was the dialogue writer is considered as a turning point in both Tamil Nadu cinema and Tamil Nadu politics. The movie was initially banned as it propagated Dravidian ideology and contained elements that criticized Brahmanism. Later after its release the movie turned into a huge hit with the Dravidian ideology reaching nook and corner of the state. He wrote scripts to numerous films with the theme on widow remarriage, abolition of untouchability, self-respect marriages and abolition of religious hypocrisy. Karunanidhi is also known for his contributions to Tamil literature as he has written poems, letters, screenplays, novels, biographies, historical novels, stage-plays, dialogues and movie songs. He has written Kuraloviam for Thirukural, Tholkaappiya Poonga, Poombukar, as well as many poems, essays and books. Some of his notable works include Sanga Thamizh, Thirukkural Urai, Ponnar Sankar, Romapuri Pandian, Thenpandi Singam.
World Tamil Conference:
Karunanidhi delivered the special address at 3rd World Tamil Conference that held in Paris in 1970. He also delivered a special address on the inaugural day of 6th World Tamil Conference that held in Malaysia in 1987. He also wrote the official theme song for the ‘World Classical Tamil Conference 2010’.
Important years:
1942- Murasoli was started.
1957- He was elected as MLA for first time.
1962- Deputy leader of opposition in the state assembly
1967- Karunanidhi become the minister for public works
1969- Sworn in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
1970- He was a part of World Tamil Conference