People paying tribute to Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar. (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
New Delhi: Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, one of the great names in the history of Tamil Nadu, was born on October 30, 1908. He was a freedom fighter and spiritual leader who was considered a deity by the Mukulathor community. Infact, the people of the Mukulathor community still make offerings as is done for the deities in temples to his statue on the birthday of Thevar.
The rise of Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar
Thevar spent his childhood in the care of his maternal grandmother Parvathiammal and was helped by Kuzhanthaisami Pillai, a family friend regarding education. Reportedly, he was not able to complete his school studies.
He gained prominence in the political circle of Tamil Nadu due to his opposition to the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) that was enacted in 1920 by the British Indian government of the Madras Presidency. Thevar mobilised resistance to it, visited several villages and led protest rallies for the rights of the individuals registered under it.
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The Act criminalised the entire Mukulathor community by branding them as habitual criminals. He was instrumental in getting the Act repealed after continuous efforts in 1946.
Thevar and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
Thevar became a full-time member of the Congress party and attended the Madras session in 1927 as a volunteer when he was only 19 years old. He became a close aide of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose who introduced him to his mother as his younger sibling.
Opposition to the caste system
Thevar rejected traditional Hinduism due to the ‘Varnashrama’ and regularly fought against the evils of the Hindu religion. When the Temple Entry Authorisation and Indemnity Act was passed in 1939, Thevar supported it and helped A. Vaidyanatha Iyer, his friend and activist to facilitate the entry of Dalits to Meenakshi Temple in Madurai.
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Thevar and Forward Bloc
During the conflict in the Congress between Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose after the latter became the party president, Thevar strongly supported Bose. After Bose launched his new party Forward Bloc and called for the unification of all left-wing elements, Thevar joined the party and helped the party to expand its base in Tamil Nadu. He was the deputy chairman of the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) since 1952 and was elected three times to the AIFB national parliament board.
Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar passed away in October, 1963. Today, he is considered by the Mukulathor community as a man who became a deity, thanks to his fight and struggle for the oppressed class.
