Guru Nanak Devji Chair of Maduraj Kamaraj University organized a seminar jointly with the Department of History, Yadava College, Madurai on 20th March 2001 on the topic ‘The Akali and Dravidian Movements: Perspectives on Federalism in India’. The seminar was well attended by learned scholars from universities and colleges of the region and invoked interesting discussions on the topic.

Inaugurating the seminar Prof. M. Salihu, Vice Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University mentioned that the Sikh movement from its origin itself represented spiritual brotherhood, social justice and self respect which got invigorated in the formation of the Akali movement. Sikhism has made the people of Punjab into the most productive class of people. He said that the Tamils should emulate the Sikhs and advance in the fields of education, agriculture and sports and achieve what they have done. The Vice Chancellor proudly recalled the Khalsa Tercentenary Celebrations organized in Madurai Kamaraj University. He applauded the Guru Nanak Devji Chair for effectively spreading the culture and tradition of the Sikhs.

The General Secretary of Dravidar Kazhagam, Thiru K Veeramani presented the special address on the topic of the seminar. He opened up his speech mentioning that a federal form of government alone would be suitable for a pluralistic country where the people of different communities following various religions and speaking different languages live. The Akali and the Dravidian movements are proud that it is these movements who proposed and always stood along with the principle of federalism in the modern history of India. Sanskritisation in the history of India and Hindutva policies in recent times are trying to do away with the original cultural input of such religions as Buddhism, Sikhism, etc., and declare that they are part of Hinduism. These religions had to struggle hard to keep alive their originality.

Sikhism is the best example in the last 500 years of how Hinduisation and Sanskrtisation ought to be consistently resisted. Thou the Sikhs are a minority, forming only two percent of the population of India, their achievements are remarkable in all the areas. The Sikhs keep high their religious, linguistic identities and self respect. They are the leaders of Green and White revolutions in India.

The Akali Dal came into existence in the year 1925 on the same year when E.V.R. Periyar started the Self Respect movement in Tamilnadu. The Akali Dal is the outcome of decades of Sikh revival movement in the modern period and also is the political face of the Sikhs. The formation of the Akali Dal in 1925 indicates how the Sikhs as a progressive religious community overwhelmingly accepted the democratic politics in public life. It is interesting to note the relations between the Akali Party and the Shiromani gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, the opex body of the religious institutions of the Sikhs. As the political party of the secular life of the Sikhs, the Akali Dal is influential and even controls the SGPC. It is contrary in the case of relations between RSS and BJP. In the latter case, it is the RSS which controls the BJP. In a sense it reflects the non-democratic content of Hinduism, and its Hindutva politics.

The Akali Dal has all along stood for democratization of social and political life in India. It is a strong supporter of Federalism and social justice. It consistently advocates the policy of state autonomy.

Mr K Veeramani dedicated most of his time to various historical stages in the history of the Akali movement and brought out its salient features in comparison with the Dravidian Movement. He concluded his speech with the remark that both the Akali and the Dravidian parties must seriously consider the dangers of Hindutva politics in the present context.

There were altogether six academic papers presented in the two sessions of the seminar on various aspects of ideology and history of the Akali and Dravidian Movements. We summarize below the major ideas discussed by the learned paper presenters:

1. The Sikh as well as the Dravidian movements emerged in the avarnic territories of India and this is the first fact that should be taken note of when we start discussing the distinguishing aspects of the two movements.

2. Both the concerned regions had strong influences of various heterodox cultural movements such as Jainism, Buddhism, Sidha tradition, etc. in their earlier stages of history. Punjab had the impact of Islam and Sufi traditions too.

3. The second half of the 19th century is the historical period that needs to be probed in depth when we aim to understand the further developments of Indian history in 20th century. It was a period of deep fermentation under the colonial conditions and the emergence of various socio-cultural movements of Modern India. On the one hand, there were movements of Brahmanic revivalism such as Arya Samaj in western India, Brahmo Samaj in eastern India and Theosophical society in South India. Similarly, there were movements of regional cultural identities, social justice and democratization of social life during the same period. Namdhari and Singh Sabha Movements of Punjab, Satya Sodhak Samaj of Jyotibai Phule of Maharashtra, the Neo-Buddhist movement of Pundit Ayoddhi Das and the non-brahmin movement of Tamilnadu are examples of the second type.

4. While the Brahmanic consolidation was conservative and neo-feudalistic, the regional socio-cultural movements were democratic in content. The Brahmanic consolidation grew into the ideology of all-India natioliasm whereas the latter movements strengthened the process of micro-cultural identities and social democracy. Even the anti-British struggle in these regions were rooted in the regional cultural aspirations of these movements, that is to say that the anti-British revolts in these regions were not rooted in the pro-Brahmanic all-India nationalism.

5. The Namdhari revolts took their inspiration from the memories of Khalsa Raj of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Singh Sabha movement originated partially from its differences with the Arya Samaj activities in Punjab. Similarly, opposing the Brahmanic orientation of the Theosophical Society came into existence the South Indian Welfare association or the Non-Brahmin movement of the Tamils (later called the Justice party). At some stage, these movements developed into forming political parties of their own, the Akali and Dravidian Parties, but in their own regional cultural groundings. This means that their perceptions of the freedom struggle and perspectives of social system in free India were very much different from that of the Congress Party. The Akali and the Dravidian parties proposed a federal and social democratic setup for the development of independent India. But the Congress rule at the centre opted a different path.

6. The Akalis and the Dravidian ideologists mobilized strong sensitivities of regional cultural identities (linguistic, religional or both), evoked themes of self-respect and social justice. Their methodology included non-brahmanism, at times anti-brahmanism. They consider that critique of Brahmanism is an essential part of the process of democratization of India. Both the movements have relentlessly fought for the formation of the linguistic states, continue to fight for the autonomy of states and at times have demanded separate states. They also think that abolition of the Hindu caste system is an essential need for social democracy in India.

7. There is a trend in social sciences to consider the Akali and Dravidian movements as separatist ones, jeopardizing the so called unity of the country. However, the more rational social scientists consider that these movements constitute the dynamic part of the socio-political developments of India and it is these movements which resist the totalitarian and imperialist forces within India. Many more states of India such as Andhra Pradesh (Telgu Desam), Assam (Assam Gana Parishad) and others follow the path chosen by Punjab and Tamilnadu. It is also realized that the federal perspective proposed by these parties is appropriate to encounter the dangers of Hindutva too.

8. It is also to be mentioned that there are two major evils spoiling the democratic ideology and fabric of the Akali and Dravidian movements. First is the evil of Parliamentary democracy which increasingly keeps corrupting the leadership of these movements, thus perpetuating disunity and divisions in these movements. The moment of political or the issue of power over dominates the thinking of the leadership. To encounter this problem it is advised to recollect that the Akali and the Dravidian movements are not merely political movements but they are above all socio-cultural movements and they are advised to address more and more to their cultural roots.

Second is the evil of elite formation in these movements that alienates the leadership from the popular mass support of the people. To encounter this problem, the movements should revive their commitment to social justice and address the fundamental social problems.

The Seminar proceedings brought to focus the salient features of the Akali and Dravidian Movements as well some of the problems they are facing today. As such it was an interesting and fruitful exercise of learning and discussing. Dr. N. Muthu Mohan of Guru Nanak Devji Chair, Madurai Kamaraj University proposed the vote of thanks to all the participants of the program especially his co-organisers of the Seminar namely Dr. K. Thiruvasagam, Principal, Yadava College, Madurai and Prof. S. Balasubramanian, Head, Department of History of the same college.