Remembering Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar

OV Digital Desk
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Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar

Muthuramlinga Thevar was unveiled by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The statue was donated by the former Union Minister, Dr. Subramanian Swamy

Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar was a politician and a patriarch of the Thevar community in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. He was elected three times to the national Parliamentary Constituency. On 1 October 2002, the life-size statue of Thevar was unveiled in the Parliament House by the then President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has recalled the rich contributions of the illustrious Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar on Thevar Jayanthi.

In a tweet, the Prime Minister said.

“On the special occasion of Thevar Jayanthi, I recall the rich contributions of the illustrious Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar. Extremely brave and kindhearted, he devoted his life to public welfare and social justice. He made many efforts for the welfare of farmers and workers.”

He was born on 30 October 1908 in Pasumpon, Ramnad District. From 1910, he was in the custody of his maternal grandmother Parvathiammal in the neighboring village of Kallupatti. Parvathiammal was furious with Muthuramalingam’s father for having taken two new wives shortly after the death of his second wife. His education began in an elementary school run by American missionaries. Later he was shifted to Union Christian High School in Madurai. Unfortunately, he could not complete his studies as he returned to Pasumpon to fight a legal battle over issues of inheritance of family property. The case lingered and was not settled until 1927 when the court ruled in Muthuramalingam Thevar favour.

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His political career started with the opposition to the “Criminal Tribes Act” which was enacted in 1920 by the government of the Madras Presidency. His political career started from then and continued. During his career, he supported the S C Bose for getting elected as President of the Indian National Congress in 1939. He mobilized all south India votes for Bose. He also supported the “Temple Entry Movement” which removed restrictions prohibiting Dalits from entering Hindu temples. Thevar supported this reform and on 8 July 1939, he helped the activist A. Vaidyanatha Iyer take Dalits to Meenakshi Temple in Madurai.

In January 1952, the first general elections in independent India were held. The Forward Bloc, which was formed by S C Bose, had contested with the aim of forming non-Congress governments at the Centre as well as in the states. The election was held simultaneously to the Lok Sabha as well as to the legislative assemblies of the states. Thevar contested the Aruppukottai constituency in the Lok Sabha election and the Mudukulathur constituency in the assembly election. He won in both cases. After the election, he decided to vacate his Lok Sabha seat and concentrate his efforts on the Madras legislative assembly.  Thevar died on 30 October 1963 on his 55th birthday.

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