Self-Respect Movement (1925) – Origin, Chengalpattu Conference 1929, Self-Respect Marriages & Section 7-A, Women's Rights, Rationalism, Justice Party & DK | TNPSC Notes

The Self-Respect Movement (Suyamariyathai Iyakkam) was a social reform movement started in 1925 in the Madras Presidency by E. V. Ramasamy (Periyar), with S. Ramanathan as its secretary. It worked for the abolition of caste, equal rights for women and rational thinking, spread its ideas through the weekly Kudi Arasu (1925), held its first provincial conference at Chengalpattu in 1929, and introduced self-respect marriages without priests, which were later made legal by Section 7-A of the Hindu Marriage Act (Tamil Nadu amendment, 1967). The movement completed its centenary in 2025.

தமிழில் படிக்க

These notes are written for TNPSC Group 1, 2/2A and 4 aspirants and are meant to be complete on their own. The Self-Respect Movement is a core topic in History, Culture, Heritage and Socio-Political Movements of Tamil Nadu (social reform, the non-Brahmin and Dravidian movements, women's rights, rationalism). Its place among the reform movements of colonial India and its break with the Congress belong to History, Culture of India and Indian National Movement; the law on self-respect marriages and the 2023 Supreme Court ruling link to Indian Polity; and its demands on women's property rights and social justice connect with Indian Economy and Development Administration in Tamil Nadu. Read each section, then use the tables, the quick revision table and the key points at the end. This note is about the movement as a whole; for Periyar's life see our separate Periyar note.

Background and Causes

The movement grew out of the social and political conditions of the Madras Presidency in the early twentieth century:

• Caste hierarchy: untouchability, caste-based disabilities and the denial of temple and road access to many communities were widespread.
• Non-Brahmin awakening: the Justice Party (South Indian Liberal Federation), founded in 1916, had already raised the demand for a fair share of jobs and education for non-Brahmins.
• Communal representation issue in the Congress: E. V. Ramasamy, then a Congress leader, repeatedly asked the provincial Congress to accept reserved representation for non-Brahmins. At the Tamil Nadu Congress conference at Kanchipuram (1925) his resolution was not allowed, and he left the Congress.
• Experience of the Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–25) and the Cheranmadevi Gurukulam controversy convinced him that social equality would not come through the Congress alone.
• Position of women: child marriage, enforced widowhood, the Devadasi system and the lack of property rights kept women unequal.

The term suyamariyathai (self-respect) expressed the central idea: people must first be freed from the notion of "high" and "low" birth before they can value political freedom.

Origin and Early Organisation (1925–1928)

• Kudi Arasu (2 May 1925): a Tamil weekly started by E. V. Ramasamy at Erode. It became the main voice of the movement.
• Founding (1925): after leaving the Congress, E. V. Ramasamy launched the Self-Respect Movement. S. Ramanathan became its secretary and invited E. V. Ramasamy to lead it.
• Self-Respect Leagues: by the end of 1926, local Self-Respect leagues and district conferences had appeared in different parts of the Tamil region.
• Nature: the movement stayed away from contesting elections and concentrated on social reform – meetings, conferences, journals, inter-caste and widow marriages and campaigns against superstition.
• Revolt (1928): an English weekly was started in 1928 to carry the movement's ideas to English-educated readers.

Aims of the Movement

Tamil Nadu school textbooks list the main aims as follows:

• Abolition of the caste system, untouchability and caste-based disabilities.
• Equal rights, status and opportunities for women; removal of restrictions placed on them.
• Rejection of hereditary priesthood and of rituals that need priests; promotion of rational thinking (pagutharivu) in place of superstition.
• Restoring pride in Tamil (Dravidian) language, history and culture, and making society more rational.

The Chengalpattu Conference, 1929

The First Provincial Self-Respect Conference was held at Chengalpattu (Chingleput) in February 1929 (one account gives March 1929). It was presided over by W. P. A. Soundarapandian, and leaders of the Justice Party took part. Its resolutions became the programme of the movement.

Exam tip: the women's resolutions of Chengalpattu were far ahead of the law of that time. Coparcenary rights by birth for daughters, equal to sons, came in Tamil Nadu only with the Hindu Succession (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 1989, and legal validity for priest-less marriages only with the 1967 amendment.

Provincial Conferences and Key Meetings

Order to remember: Chengalpattu (1929) → Erode (1930) → Virudhunagar (1931) – first, second and third provincial Self-Respect conferences.

Self-Respect Marriages

The best-known practical reform of the movement was the self-respect marriage (suyamariyathai thirumanam). Such a marriage:

• is conducted without a priest, without sacred fire and without saptapadi (seven steps around the fire);
• is based on the consent of the two partners, who declare before relatives and friends that they accept each other;
• was used for inter-caste marriages, widow remarriages and marriages by choice, and often had a movement leader in place of a priest.

An often-cited example is the marriage of Kuthoosi Gurusamy and Kunjitham, conducted by Periyar. Activists such as Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar also arranged self-respect marriages.

Why a law was needed

Under Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, a Hindu marriage is valid when performed according to the customary rites of either party. Because self-respect marriages deliberately set aside those rites, their legal validity – and the rights of the spouses and children – could be questioned in court.

Legal validation – Section 7-A (1967)

• Law: the Hindu Marriage (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 1967, passed by the government of C. N. Annadurai after the DMK came to power in 1967.
• President's assent: 17 January 1968.
• Section 7-A – "Special provision regarding suyamariyathai and seerthiruththa (reform) marriages" – applies to a marriage between two Hindus solemnised in the presence of relatives, friends or other persons by any one of these acts: (a) each party declaring, in a language they understand, that each takes the other as spouse; or (b) each party garlanding the other or putting a ring on any finger of the other; or (c) tying the thali.
• No priest, no sacred fire and no saptapadi are required.

Supreme Court, 2023

In Ilavarasan v. Superintendent of Police, decided on 28 August 2023 by a bench of Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar, the Supreme Court held that Section 7-A does not require a public declaration or public solemnisation; adding such a condition would narrow the law and affect rights under Article 21. It held the Madras High Court's 2014 view in S. Balakrishnan Pandiyan to be erroneous. The Court also said that advocates should not solemnise marriages in their capacity as advocates, though as friends or relatives of the couple they may act as witnesses.

Women's Rights in the Movement

• Programme: equal property and inheritance rights, right to divorce, widow remarriage, marriage by choice, end of child marriage and the Devadasi system, education and jobs for women – as resolved at Chengalpattu.
• Women leaders: Nagammai (organised women during the Vaikom Satyagraha and helped run Kudi Arasu), Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar (campaign against the Devadasi system; self-respect marriages), Neelambikai Ammaiyar (presided over the 1938 Women's Conference) and Meenambal Sivaraj took part in its campaigns.
• Anti-Hindi agitation (1938): women took part in large numbers, and many were arrested in Madras.
• Tamil Nadu Women's Conference, 13 November 1938, Madras: the conference, presided over by Neelambikai Ammaiyar, gave E. V. Ramasamy the title "Periyar".
• Later law: the Hindu Succession (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 1989 inserted Section 29-A, making an unmarried daughter a coparcener by birth with a share equal to a son, with effect from 25 March 1989 – a demand first made at Chengalpattu sixty years earlier.

Rationalism (Pagutharivu) and the Press

The movement asked people to test every belief by reason. It criticised superstition, rituals that needed priests and the use of religious texts to justify caste. Journals were its main tool.

In 1952 the Periyar Self-Respect Propaganda Institution was registered to carry on the movement's work.

Links with the Justice Party and the Dravidar Kazhagam

• Common base: both the Justice Party (1916) and the Self-Respect Movement spoke for non-Brahmin communities; Justice Party leaders took part in the Chengalpattu conference.
• Different methods: the Justice Party was a party contesting elections; the Self-Respect Movement was a social movement that did not contest elections.
• Erode Plan (December 1932): after Periyar's tour of Europe and the Soviet Union, a meeting at Erode adopted a socialist economic programme with M. Singaravelar.
• 1938: during the anti-Hindi agitation Periyar, then in prison, was elected President of the Justice Party (29 December 1938). From then the two worked together.
• 1944 – Salem conference (27 August): the Justice Party was renamed the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) on a resolution moved by C. N. Annadurai (the "Annadurai Resolution"). The DK became the main carrier of the Self-Respect programme.
• 1949: the DMK, formed by C. N. Annadurai, came out of the DK; in power from 1967, it gave legal force to self-respect marriages.

Key People of the Movement

Outcomes and Significance

• Social: weakened caste titles and caste marks in public life; spread inter-caste and widow marriages; made priest-less weddings common in Tamil Nadu.
• Women: placed property rights, divorce, marriage age and education of women on the public agenda decades before the law.
• Legal: Section 7-A (1967) and the Hindu Succession (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 1989 turned two of its demands into law.
• Political: its ideas shaped the Dravidar Kazhagam and the Dravidian parties, and the politics of social justice and reservation in Tamil Nadu.
• Cultural: encouraged pride in Tamil language and history and a rationalist press tradition (Kudi Arasu, Pagutharivu, Viduthalai).
• Centenary (2025): to mark 100 years of the movement, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin unveiled a portrait of Periyar at St Antony's College, Oxford, on 4 September 2025, during a centenary conference there.

Writing Mains Answers on the Self-Respect Movement (Group 1 / Group 2)

Descriptive papers ask about the aims, the women's programme and the legacy of the movement. Build your answer on these points and support each with a fact from the notes above.

Self-Respect Movement and the emancipation of women (about 150–250 words)

• Introduction: started in 1925 by Periyar with S. Ramanathan; equality of women was one of its core aims.
• Programme: Chengalpattu (1929) resolutions – equal property and inheritance, divorce, marriage age about 16, widow remarriage, marriage by choice, jobs and teaching posts for women.
• Practice: self-respect marriages; campaigns against child marriage and the Devadasi system.
• Women leaders: Nagammai, Moovalur Ramamirtham, Neelambikai Ammaiyar; women in the 1938 anti-Hindi agitation; 1938 Women's Conference.
• Legal results: Section 7-A (1967); Hindu Succession (TN Amendment) Act, 1989 (Section 29-A, from 25 March 1989).
• Conclusion: the movement made women's rights a part of social reform in Tamil Nadu long before national law.

Self-respect marriages – from social practice to law (about 150 words)

• Practice: priest-less marriages based on consent; used for inter-caste and widow marriages.
• Problem: Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 required customary rites.
• Solution: Hindu Marriage (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 1967 – Section 7-A (declaration, garland/ring or thali); assent 17 January 1968.
• Judicial support: Supreme Court in Ilavarasan v. Superintendent of Police (2023) – no public declaration needed; advocates not to solemnise in professional capacity.
• Significance: a social reform movement's idea became part of personal law.

Self-Respect Movement, Justice Party and Dravidar Kazhagam (about 150 words)

• Justice Party (1916) – political, non-Brahmin representation.
• Self-Respect Movement (1925) – social reform, did not contest elections.
• Periyar President of the Justice Party (1938); Salem conference (1944) – Dravidar Kazhagam.
• DK carried the Self-Respect programme; DMK (1949) emerged from it and legalised self-respect marriages in 1967.

Practice: Match the Following

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Founding year: the movement began in 1925; the first provincial conference was only in 1929.
• Conference order: Chengalpattu 1929, Erode 1930, Virudhunagar 1931 – do not mix Erode 1930 (second conference) with the Erode Plan of December 1932.
• Chengalpattu vs Salem: Chengalpattu (1929) was the first Self-Respect conference; Salem (1944) is where the Justice Party became the Dravidar Kazhagam.
• Section number: self-respect marriages – Section 7-A of the Hindu Marriage Act; daughters' coparcenary rights – Section 29-A of the Hindu Succession Act (TN amendment).
• Year of the marriage law: passed in 1967 (Annadurai government); President's assent 17 January 1968.
• Movement vs party: the Self-Respect Movement and the DK did not contest elections; the Justice Party and the DMK did.
• 2023 ruling: the Supreme Court did not let advocates run marriage services in their chambers; it said they should not solemnise marriages as advocates, but may be witnesses as friends or relatives.

Quick Revision Table

TNPSC Key Points (PYQ-style facts)

• Self-Respect Movement (Suyamariyathai Iyakkam): 1925; founder E. V. Ramasamy (Periyar); secretary S. Ramanathan.
• Cause: rejection of the communal representation resolution at the Kanchipuram Congress conference (1925).
• Aims: abolition of caste and untouchability; equality of women; rationalism; no priests; Tamil pride.
• Kudi Arasu – Tamil weekly, Erode, 2 May 1925; Revolt – English, 1928; Puratchi – 1933; Pagutharivu – 1934; Viduthalai – 1935.
• First Provincial Self-Respect Conference – Chengalpattu, 1929 – president W. P. A. Soundarapandian.
• Chengalpattu resolutions: drop caste titles; equal property for women; divorce; marriage age about 16; widow remarriage; women teachers.
• Second conference – Erode (1930); third – Virudhunagar (1931).
• Erode Plan – December 1932, with M. Singaravelar.
• Self-respect marriage: no priest, no fire, no saptapadi; declaration / garland or ring / thali.
• Legalised by Hindu Marriage (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 1967 – Section 7-A; assent 17 January 1968; Annadurai government.
• Supreme Court – Ilavarasan v. Superintendent of Police (28 August 2023): public declaration not necessary.
• Hindu Succession (TN Amendment) Act, 1989 – Section 29-A – daughters coparceners from 25 March 1989.
• Justice Party (1916) → Periyar President 1938 → Dravidar Kazhagam, Salem, 27 August 1944.
• Women's Conference, Madras, 13 November 1938 – Neelambikai Ammaiyar presided – title "Periyar".
• Centenary 2025 – Periyar portrait at St Antony's College, Oxford (4 September 2025).

Frequently Asked Questions

When and why did the Self-Respect Movement begin?

It began in 1925, after E. V. Ramasamy (Periyar) left the Congress when the Tamil Nadu Congress conference at Kanchipuram (1925) did not allow his resolution on communal representation for non-Brahmins. With S. Ramanathan as its secretary, the movement worked for the abolition of caste, the equality of women and rational thinking. Its ideas were carried by the Tamil weekly Kudi Arasu, started at Erode on 2 May 1925.

What did the Chengalpattu Self-Respect Conference of 1929 resolve about women?

The first Provincial Self-Respect Conference at Chengalpattu (1929), presided over by W. P. A. Soundarapandian, asked for equal rights for women in property and inheritance, the right of either partner to end an unhappy marriage, a marriage age of about 16 for girls, support for widow remarriage, freedom to choose a partner irrespective of caste or religion, the right to work in any profession and more women teachers in primary schools.

What is a self-respect marriage and how was it made legal?

A self-respect (suyamariyathai) marriage is conducted without a priest, sacred fire or saptapadi; the couple declare that they take each other as spouses, or exchange garlands or rings, or tie a thali, before relatives and friends. The Hindu Marriage (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 1967, passed under Chief Minister C. N. Annadurai, inserted Section 7-A into the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 to make such marriages valid; it received the President's assent on 17 January 1968.

What did the Supreme Court say about self-respect marriages in 2023?

In Ilavarasan v. Superintendent of Police (28 August 2023), the Supreme Court held that Section 7-A does not require a public declaration, and that the Madras High Court's 2014 view in S. Balakrishnan Pandiyan was erroneous. It added that advocates should not solemnise marriages in their professional capacity, though as friends or relatives they may act as witnesses.

How is the Self-Respect Movement linked to the Justice Party and the Dravidar Kazhagam?

The movement and the Justice Party (South Indian Liberal Federation, founded 1916) shared a non-Brahmin social base. Periyar became President of the Justice Party in December 1938, and at the Salem conference of 27 August 1944 the Justice Party was renamed the Dravidar Kazhagam on a resolution moved by C. N. Annadurai. The DK thus carried the Self-Respect programme forward, and the DMK (1949) later grew out of the DK.

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