The
beginnings
Born
in
a
Nagapattinam
village
in
Tamil
Nadu,
Muthuvel
Karunanidhi’s
parents
were
from
the
Isai
Vellalar
community
,
a
community
of
musicians
that
perform
at
temples
and
other
social
gatherings.
Growing
up
in
a
caste-ridden
culture,
and
from
a
lower
caste
Karunanidhi
personally
experienced
the
crippling
and
stifling
casteism
while
growing
up.
When
he
was
14,
he
formed
a
student
movement
against
the
imposition
of
Hindi
as
India’s
national
language
during
the
Anti-Hindi
agitation
of
1937-40.
This
served
as
a
forerunner
to
Karunanidhi’s
wider
anti-Hindi
demonstrations
in
1965.
A
champion
of
social
justice,
caste
amity
Muthuvel
Karunanidhi
started
his
political
journey
when
he
was
just
14
years
old.
As
a
young
activist,
he
strongly
challenged
caste
hierarchy
in
the
country
and
was
a
part
of
Periyar’s
self-respect
movement,
which
envisioned
a
society
where
oppressed
castes
would
have
equal
rights
with
a
focus
on
the
rights
of
women.
He
had
clarified
that
he
opposed
the
caste
inequalities
associated
with
Brahminism
rather
than
Brahmins
Self-respect
marriages
One
of
Karunanidhi’s
earliest
moves
was
to
give
legal
and
political
backing
for
self-respect
marriages,
a
Periyar
ideal
that
the
DMK
inherited.
It
was
a
blessing
for
the
poor
families
as
they
were
unable
to
afford
to
pay
for
all
the
wedding
ceremonies.
The
essence
of
self-respect
marriage
is
all
about
solemnising
a
wedding
without
a
priest
and
by
dispensing
with
all
rituals.
The
Dravidian
model
is
broadly,
social
justice
driven
and
all-inclusive
growth.
It
was
the
DMK
founder
and
late
Chief
Minister
C
N
Annadurai
who
amended
the
Hindu
Marriage
Act
in
1967
in
its
application
to
Tamil
Nadu
to
legalise
self-respect
marriages
in
the
state.
It
was
the
first
legislative
initiative
by
Annadurai
after
the
DMK
formed
government
in
Tamil
Nadu.
Property
Rights
to
Women
Dravidian
ideology
has
always
had
empowerment
of
women
in
the
forefront
of
its
political
discourse.
A
remarkable
move
by
Kalaignar
is
to
give
equal
property
rights
to
women.
Until
then
only
the
male
members
of
the
family
inherited
the
property
of
the
parents,
after
the
amendment
of
the
Hindu
Succession
Act
in
1989
by
the
Tamilnadu
Government
women
were
given
equal
rights
on
the
family
property.
Welfare
Board
of
Transgenders
Transgender
Persons
Welfare
Board.
The
board
gave
transgender
persons
the
‘Aravani
identity
card’,
allowing
them
to
apply
for
and
get
ration
cards,
driving
licenses,voter
IDs
and
other
ID
cards.
Welfare
board
for
persons
with
disabilities
Kalaignar,
and
his
DMK-led
government
also
announced
the
setting
up
of
a
welfare
board
for
persons
with
disabilities.
The
‘KannoLi
thittam’ scheme
in
the
late
60s
–
a
policy
which
provided
free
cataract
surgery,
among
other
things,
for
the
visually
impaired.
The
advocate
of
Tamil
Pride
His
love
for
Tamil
is
well
documented.
He
used
it
as
a
tool
to
bring
people
under
one
umbrella.
Since
Tamil
was
one
of
the
pillars
of
his
politics,
it
was
an
inclusive
one.
He
opposed
a
move
by
the
government
to
impose
Hindi
as
an
official
language
of
communication
in
south
India.
It
went
on
to
become
a
huge
cultural
resistance
in
the
Tamil
land.
His
dream
was
of
an
Indian
Union
based
on
equality.
Thus,
he
called
for
giving
equal
Constitutional
rights
and
status
to
all
the
languages
in
the
Eighth
Schedule
to
the
Constitution.
A
notification
was
issued
on
October
12,
2004
by
the
union
government
giving
Tamil
the
classical
language
status.
In
1970,
he
brought
in
a
law
which
allowed
any
trained
person,
irrespective
of
caste,
to
become
a
temple
priest.
He
symbolized
Tamil
pride-by
opening
Valluvar
Kottam
in
Chennai,
building
Thiruvalluvar
statue
in
Kanyakumari
next
to
the
Vivekananda
rock
and
getting
the
classical
language
status
for
Tamil
language.
Karunanidhi’s
political
innings
Coming
from
a
stigmatised
caste
of
temple
dancers
and
musicians,
Karunanidhi
was
elected
to
the
Tamil
Nadu
legislative
Assembly
for
the
first
time
in
1957.
In
1969,
Karunanidhi
was
elected
the
DMK
president,
a
post
created
for
him
following
the
death
of
party
founder
CN
Annadurai
and
he
continued
to
serve
as
the
party’s
undisputed
leader
for
over
five
decades.
He
won
the
Assembly
elections
in
1971,
only
to
see
his
government
being
dismissed
early
in
1976
during
the
Emergency.
Karunanidhi’s
influence
spread
far
beyond
Tamil
Nadu.
He
bounced
back
as
chief
minister
in
January
1989
when
Karunanidhi
formed
an
alliance
with
the
National
Front
under
the
then
prime
minister
VP
Singh.
Two
years
later,
his
sympathies
for
the
Liberation
Tigers
of
Tamil
Eelam
(LTTE)
militants
in
neighbouring
Sri
Lanka
cost
him
his
position
as
chief
minister
when
former
prime
minister
Rajiv
Gandhi
was
assassinated
by
the
group.
But
despite
this
setback,
in
1996,
Karunanidhi
returned
with
a
sweeping
majority,
completing
a
full
term.
His
party
also
joined
the
coalition
government
headed
by
the
Bharatiya
Janata
Party’s
(BJP)
AB
Vajpayee
in
1999.
He
lost
the
elections
in
2001.
The
DMK
then
continued
to
play
a
key
role
in
politics
as
it
joined
the
Congress-led
coalition
in
2004
after
it
defeated
the
BJP.
He
was
back
in
the
driver’s
seat
again
from
2006
on
the
back
of
a
manifesto
that
promised
free
TVs
and
rice
for
Rs
1
per
kg.
Even
though
the
party
did
not
come
back
to
power
after
2011,
the
DMK
patriarch
had
maintained
an
active
role
in
politics
until
crippling
health
issues
ruled
out
active
participation.
The
Dravidian
juggernaut
who
has
a
habit
of
winning
Karunanidhi
has
the
record
of
never
losing
an
election
to
the
Tamil
Nadu
Assembly,
having
won
13
times
since
his
first
victory
in
1957.
He
was
sworn
in
as
the
Chief
Minister
of
Tamil
Nadu
after
the
demise
of
his
mentor
‘Anna’,
CN
Annadurai.
He
went
on
to
become
Chief
Minister
in
1971,
1989,
1996
and
2006
and
governed
the
state
for
a
total
of
19
years.
The
Artist
To
his
die-hard
fans
and
supporters
though,
Karunanidhi
was
known
as
Kalaignar,
meaning
artist.
Even
his
political
enemies
admired
his
vast
contribution
to
Tamil
cinema
and
literature.
Before
entering
politics,
Karunanidhi
worked
in
the
Tamil
film
industry,
establishing
himself
as
one
of
industry’s
leading
screenwriters.
He
used
the
medium
of
films
and
his
command
over
Tamil
language
to
reach
out
to
the
people
and
promote
Dravidian
ideology.
A
prolific
writer,
Karunanidhi
wrote
scripts
for
67
films
starting
with
Rajakumari
in
2011
and
Ponnar
Sankar
in
2011.
He
has
authored
46
short
stories,
13
plays,
10
novels,
2
novellas
and
7000
letters
he
wrote
daily
in
Murasoli
newspaper.
He
also
wrote
literary
pieces
and
lyrics
for
some
film
songs.
He
had
even
acted
in
some
of
the
plays.
His
autobiography
‘Nenjikku
Needhi’
(justice
to
the
Conscience)
runs
into
several
volumes.
He
edited
newspapers
and
magazines.
Karunanidhi’s
love
for
the
written
word
perhaps
stemmed
from
the
nature
of
the
Dravidian
movement
itself.
However,
he
never
gained
the
swooning
fan
base
that
his
political
rivals
–
MG
Ramachandran,
and
later
Jayalalitha
–
enjoyed
through
their
film
stardom.
In
the
theatrical
world
of
Tamil
Nadu
politics
though,
Karunanidhi
had
also
faced
a
number
of
corruption
charges
in
his
lifetime
and
there
have
always
been
questions
regarding
the
rise
of
business
empires
owned
by
his
sons
and
relatives.
He
regularly
dealt
with
accusations
of
nepotism.
His
nephews
controlled
the
TV
business
in
the
state,
and
he
was
frequently
accused
of
ushering
in
dynastic
politics
in
the
DMK.
However,
the
multiple
allegations
against
him
could
not
take
away
the
distinct
legacy
Karunanidhi
has
left
behind,
be
it
in
films,
literature
or
in
politics.
Even
as
he
rests
at
the
Marina
beach,
Tamil
Nadu
has
a
reason
to
hope,
dream
and
work
for
a
better
future
for
all.
Taking
forward
the
DMK
legacy,
chief
minister
M
K
Stalin
seems
to
have
managed
to
reach
out
to
sections
beyond
party
lines
and
earn
encomiums
even
from
opponents
of
the
DMK.