 |
S Ramadoss | |
|---|---|
Founder of Pattali Makkal Katchi  | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 July 1939 Keezhsiviri, Villupuram, Madras Presidency, British India |
| Spouse | Saraswathi |
| Children | Anbumani Ramadoss |
| Residence(s) | Tindivanam, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Alma mater | Madras Medical College [1] [2] |
| Occupation | politician |
S. Ramadoss (born 25 July 1939) is an Indian politician. He is the founder of the Pattali Makkal Katchi, an Indian political party. [3]
In 1987, the Vanniyar Sangham under Ramadoss organized the 1987 Vanniyar reservation agitation demanding MBC status for Vanniyars. At the peak of the protests, the state was paralysed for a week when lakhs of trees were felled, highways blocked and damaged and more than 1400 houses of the Dalit community burned down. [4] The police under the M G Ramchandran (MGR) led AIADMK government shot down 21 protestors. [5] Later in 1989, the DMK government under M. Karunanidhi granted them 20 percent reservation under the Most backward class. [6] The Pattali Makkal Katchi, founded by S. Ramadoss on 16 July 1989, [7] emerged from these protests. [8]
S. Ramadoss is known for using foul language in press meets and public meetings. In June 2019 he stoked a controversy, saying that he would kill journalists who question him about hundreds of trees cut down by his party workers during his arrest by the J Jayalalithaa government. He said, "if we protest again we will not cut trees but hack down those who ask these questions, and throw their mangled bodies across the road." [9] He also called the journalists "dogs" and "Kammanati pasanga", a derogatory phrase used for 'son of widow'. [10] [11]
Ramadoss is notorious for his anti-Dalit rhetoric and violence. In December 2012, Ramadoss initiated a controversial campaign to prevent Dalit men from marrying non-Dalit women, especially those women who belong to the Vanniyar community. [12] In Tamil Nadu, many political parties wanted legal action against him. In an event in 2010, he said, "Dalit men sporting jeans, t-shirts and fancy glasses lure our women into marriages that don't work." M. Karunanidhi asked the government of the state to "act against those stirring up a caste passion". The campaign provoked the 2012 Dharmapuri violence, where hundreds of Dalit houses were charred by arsonists. [13] [14] [15] Ramadoss strongly campaigned for raising women's legal age of marriage to 21 as he believes upper caste women in their late teenage are easy targets for Dalit men. [16] Ramadoss convened a meeting with leaders representing intermediate castes to crusade against SC/ST Act, a law that criminalizes caste discrimination, alleging that Dalits misuse the law and register false cases to settle personal scores. [17] In 2013, he was arrested for inciting caste riots. Jayalalitha blamed PMK and Vanniyar Sangam for the 2013 Marakkanam violence. Following his arrest, PMK organised a statewide violent protest that resulted in the injury of several people and losses to public property. [18] [19] Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) accused PMK of murdering two Dalit youths in Arrakonam in April 2021. [20]
Pattali Makkal Katchi is a political party in Tamil Nadu, India, founded by S. Ramadoss in 1989 for the Vanniyar caste in northern Tamil Nadu. It is a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It contests the elections with the "Ripe Mango" symbol.
Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK), literally meaning Hindu People's Party, also pronounced as Indu Makkal Katchi (IMK), is a right-wing, Hindu nationalist party in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
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Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi formerly known as the Dalit Panthers of India or the Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam is an Indian social movement and political party that seeks to combat caste based discrimination, active in the state of Tamil Nadu. The party also has a strong emphasis on Tamil nationalism. Its chairman is Thol. Thirumavalavan, a lawyer from Chennai and its general secretary is the writer Ravikumar.
The Vanniyar, also spelled Vanniya, formerly known as the Palli, are a Dravidian community or jāti found in the northern part of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
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Anbumani Ramadoss is an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu, India. He rose to prominence as a leader of the Vanniyar caste after 2010. He is a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India and was the Minister of Health and Family Welfare in the First Manmohan Singh ministry from (2004–2009) as a part of the UPA government. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India from Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu. He is also the president of the Pattali Makkal Katchi political party.
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The tenth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held on 24 June 1991. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) – Indian National Congress (INC) alliance won the elections in a landslide and AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa became the chief minister. This was her first term in office. The united strength of AIADMK, the alliance with the Congress, and the wave of public sympathy in the wake of Rajiv Gandhi assassination combined to produce a massive victory for the AIADMK. The DMK could only win 2 seats. This was the worst performance of the DMK since it entered electoral politics in the 1957.
G. K. Mani is, as of 1998, the honary president of Pattali Makkal Katchi from 2022 completing more than 25 years as president of PMK party. G.K. Mani's name was proposed by PMK founder Dr. S. Ramadoss during the party's general body meeting in 1998 for President's post in PMK. Later the same year, he was elected by votes for the PMK's President.
Kaduvetti Guru, also known as J. Guru, was an Indian politician, who was twice elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Tamil Nadu. He was the president of a caste organisation, the Vanniyar Sangam.
Reservation policy in Tamil Nadu is a system of affirmative action that provides historically disadvantaged groups representation in education and employment. Reservations in the state rose from 41 percent in 1954 to 69 percent in 1990.
In the 2012 Dharmapuri violence, a Vanniyar caste mob set fire to about 268 Dalit houses in Natham, old and new Kondampatti and Annanagar Dalit colonies in Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu on 8 November 2012. The violence occurred after a Vanniyar girl from Sellankottai village, and a Dalit boy, from the neighbouring Dalit colony of Natham, fled due to parental opposition to get married. A caste panchayat held on the morning of 7 November by leaders from both communities ruled that the girl be returned to her family. Distraught at her decision to stay with her husband, her father allegedly committed suicide. The discovery of his body later that day is said to have provoked a 1,500-strong mob to rampage through Natham and two smaller Dalit settlements, Kondampatti and Anna Nagar, where it set ablaze over 200 houses, damaged at least 50 others, and allegedly looted valuables and cash worth lakhs of rupees. The mob rampaged for four hours and was brought under control after arrest of 90 men and an additional deployment of 1000 policemen.
The 2013 Marakkanam violence was an incident of violence in Tamil Nadu between Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and Dalit villagers in Marakkanam. The violence was instigated when drunk PMK cadres attacked Dalit villagers. The Dalit villagers blocked the road demanding their attackers be arrested which stopped the vehicle convoy taking PMK members to a youth festival organized by the Vanniyar Sangam at Mamallapuram. The PMK members attacked the Dalit colony and burned down nine huts of Dalits, they attacked homes of Muslims and offices of AIADMK MPs, they vandalized buses, felled trees among other things. In the ensuing violence, two PMK members were killed.
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The 2019 Ponparappi violence happened on April 18, 2019, during the polling day for the 2019 Indian general election in the village of Ponparappi, Tamil Nadu. The violence reportedly started as scuffles and agitations between the supporters of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the members of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) together with the members of Hindu Munnani, which reportedly led to violence by the members of the PMK on a Dalit colony. 60 to115 Dalit houses were damaged and Dalits were assaulted.
The 2015 Seshasamudram violence also known as the Villupuram violence refers to the violence that took place on 15 August 2015 in Seshasmudram, a village in Sankarapuram Taluk, Viluppuram District, Tamil Nadu. A crowd of 500 dominant-caste villagers attacked a Dalit colony over a dispute over a procession of a temple car. 15 houses belonging to the Dalits were burnt down and 40 Dalits were injured during the violence.
The 1987 Vanniyar reservation protest was week-long a protest organized by the Vanniyar Sangham headed by S. Ramadoss in Tamil Nadu in September 1987 demanding 20 percent reservation for Vanniyars in education and employment in the state and 2 percent in education and employment in the Union government. The agitation turned violent and destructive, the protestors damaged roadways and reportedly cut down lakhs of trees to block roadways, and destroyed public property. The activists of the Vanniyar Sangham attacked Dalit settlements and burned down more than 1,400 Dalit houses in numerous villages. At least 21 people were shot dead by the Tamil Nadu police sent to suppress the agitators.
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