Starting his journey at the age of 14, the prolific writer and politician was a unique, towering figure in the politics of Tamil Nadu and India.
After nearly 81 years of being inextricably linked, Tamil Nadu will now have to move on without the towering presence of ‘Kalaignar’ M. Karunanidhi holding its hand. The leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) passed away in a Chennai hospital on 7 August. He was 94.
His political journey saw him engage with generations of leaders and voters, but his stature was unparalleled, as was his uncompromising stance on his Dravidian ideology, which gave him a unique position in Indian politics.
The early years
Born as M. Daksinamoorthy in Thirukkuvalai, a tiny village in Thiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu on 3 June 1924, he was the third child of Anjugam and Muthuvelar. He had two older sisters, Periyanayagam and Shanmugasundaram Ammal.
The latter’s son, Murasoli Maran, was Karunanidhi’s closest confidant and aide, who helped build the DMK in New Delhi in his 36 years as a parliamentarian before his death in 2003.
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Karunanidhi began his mainstream political journey at the age of 14 on the streets of Thiruvarur, inspired by Alagiriswamy (who he named one of his sons after), one of the founders of the Justice Party, which later evolved into Periyar’s Dravidar Kazhagam (loosely, Dravidian Federation).
“Had I not been inspired by Dravidian ideology, I would have joined the Communist party,” Karunanidhi once said.
Political beginnings and early writing career
Karunanidhi began public speaking in the eighth grade, and when Hindi was made compulsory in schools in 1937 and Periyar influenced youngsters to come out on the streets, Karunanidhi started appearing prominently.
He launched his first magazine ‘Maanava Naesan’ in 1941 to galvanise Tamil youth for these protests. This led to the formation of ‘Tamil Maanavar Mandram’ (students’ association), with which he plunged into social awareness activities.
He also launched ‘Murasoli’ as a leaflet in 1942, which grew to be a daily newspaper and the official mouthpiece of the DMK.
The passion for writing prompted him to get published in ‘Dravida Nadu’ magazine as early as 1942. C.N. Annadurai read this article and wanted to meet the author, and was quite surprised when it turned out to be this young man. Anna later appointed him the editor of the Dravida Kazhagam’s party magazine ‘Kudiyarasu’.
Rise of the DMK, and becoming ‘Kalaignar’
Karunanidhi followed Anna into the newly-formed DMK in 1949. And at the same time, he wrote for the stage and soon moved on to scripting films, gaining popularity for writing classics like ‘Manthiri Kumari’ (1950) and ‘Parasakthi’ (1952), which were part of the strategy devised by the DMK of using films to propagate its ideology.
Karunanidhi’s first film script was for the movie ‘Rajakumari’ (1947), which featured M.G. Ramachandran in the cast. ‘Manthiri Kumari’ was MGR’s big break, and thus, the partnership between actor and scriptwriter took shape.
In 1953, inspired by Anna, MGR also joined the DMK, just before he hit his peak as an actor who held the masses in his palm. This partnership lasted till 1972, when Karunanidhi had MGR expelled from the party after differences had emerged between them. MGR then launched the Anna DMK, and became his old friend’s chief political rival.
Karunanidhi’s success as a theatre and film scriptwriter made him try his hand at other forms as well, such as poems, novels, biographies and historical novels, and he ended up publishing over 100 books.
‘Kalaignar’, the sobriquet millions of Tamil people chant in his honour, means artist in Tamil, and was given to him by actor M.R. Radha after witnessing his play ‘Thooku Medai’.
Political prime
The 1957 elections, the DMK’s first, paved the way for the party — and Karunanidhi as an individual — to enter the legislative assembly. He won from the Kulithalai constituency, and has never lost thereafter — a record 61 years as an MLA. Tamil Nadu recently celebrated his Diamond jubilee of being a legislator. Started as a small newspaper, his ‘Murasoli’ has grown into the party’s organ.
When the DMK swept to power in 1967, Karunanidhi took charge of the PWD ministry under Annadurai as CM. Following Anna’s demise in 1969, Karunanidhi took over the chief ministership and the party. He has been CM five times, until as late as 2011.
There were various attempts to silence him — Indira Gandhi dissolved his government in 1976, arresting his son Stalin under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act during the Emergency. Then, in 2001, there was the dramatic midnight arrest for alleged corruption in the construction of 10 flyovers in Chennai — Karunanidhi was 77 at the time.
But through all this, following in the footsteps of Periyar and Anna, he brought much-needed social reform to the state. Kalaignar made DMK cadres take pride in the saying “the kazhagam (party) is our kudumbam (family)”.
Karunanidhi always raised his voice for state autonomy (‘maanila suyatchi’), and believed it would become a reality. Kalaignar was a living testament to the caption he wrote for late Congress leader K. Kamaraj’s statue — ‘uzhaipe uyarvu tharum’ (hard work will bring prosperity).
Family and legacy
Karunanidhi’s first wife Padmavati, who bore their first son M.K. Muthu, passed away a few years into their marriage. He then married Dayalu Ammal, who gave birth to Alagiri, Stalin, Selvi (who married Murasoli Maran’s brother Selvam) and Tamilarasu. At the same time, he also accepted Rajathi Ammal as his companion. Kanimozhi was born to her.
On the political front, the question of Kalaignar’s legacy has already been settled. A few years ago, there was a tussle between Alagiri and Stalin over it, but Karunanidhi declared Stalin as his political heir and also expelled Alagiri from the party. At 65, Stalin has been in politics for four decades, and is already the working president of the party, which is expected to ensure a seamless transition.
But what of his contributions to theatre, cinema and literature? They may never be matched.
His six-volume autobiography ‘Nenjukku Neethi’ (Justice to the heart) is a virtual encyclopaedia of his long innings in politics, cinema and literature, and for any millennials interested in learning about the Dravidian movement, it’s a goldmine.
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