The ‘sun’ of the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) and five-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Muthuvel Karunanidhi, passed away on Tuesday, 7 August, at the age of 94, leaving behind a heart-broken state of Tamil Nadu.
The former Chief Minister’s death was mourned across the country and the state- with political leaders such as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth visiting his residence at Gopalapuram, to pay their last respects.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi are amid those expected to travel to Chennai on Wednesday, 8 August for the same purpose.
Condolence messages have been pouring in from both the political spectrum and the Tamil film industry, which Karunanidhi was closely associated with - all carrying the same message - that the country lost a great leader.
To remember the legacy of the man who entered the world of politics at the age of 14, spoke out against caste and class differences, and dominated the Tamil film industry, even while remaining in the hot seat of Chief Minister, here are a few lesser known facts about the state’s ‘Kailagnar’.
Joined Politics as a 14-Yr-Old
Karunanidhi started his political career at the tender age of 14, when he participated in anti-Hindi agitations. One of the forerunners of the Dravidian movement, he soon formed the Tamil Manavar Mandram, which was the first Dravidian student organisation, reports Catch News.
The party’s ideology challenged elitism, religious dogma, and caste orthodoxies in south India, BBC reports.
He also opposed Brahmin supremacy and challenged a move by the federal government to impose Hindi as the official communication language in South India.
Dropped Out of School to Write Scripts
Karunanidhi had failed his Class 10 exams. Following this, he moved to Coimbatore, where he made ends meet by writing scripts for professional theatre groups, states The Caravan.
Meanwhile, his budding talent as an orator and polemicist had captured the attention of Periyar and Annadurai, who then appointed him the editor of their Dravidar Kazhagam party magazine, Kudiyarasu, and also to address public gathering, all the while allowing him to continue his part-time work in theatre.
Sympathized With the LTTE
Karunanidhi was said to be a sympathizer to the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants in neighbouring Sri Lanka, which eventually earned him a lot of criticism from Indian political parties, and cost him his position as chief minister when the then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated in a suicide bomb attack planned by the group, BBC reports.
The former Chief Minister had allegedly called LTTE chief Prabhakaran "a very good friend" in an interview with NDTV, Catch News states, adding that the Jain Commission , which was investigating Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, had indicted him of having “abetted the Tamil Tigers”.
His Film ‘Parasakhti’ Was Banned
In 1952, Karunanidhi wrote the screenplay and dialogues for a film called Parasakthi, an instant hit which centred on a Tamil family of migrants from then-Burma to Tamil Nadu, through which it harshly critiqued the existing caste structure that led to the family facing discrimination in society, BBC reports.
Considering its controversial message, the film was soon banned across the state.
Tamil Nadu’s ‘Kailagnar’- a name given to him fondly by the people, Karunanidhi wrote more than 30 movie scripts, novellas, poems and historical novels.
As the state mourns his loss, he leaves behind a rich cultural legacy in the realms of both film and politics- for which he will be celebrated, always.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)