Ukkirapandi Muthuramalinga Thevar (30 October 1908 - 30 October 1963), also known as Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, was a farmer, politician, freedom fighter and a spritualist from the Thevar community.[1]He is revered as a demigod in southern Tamil Nadu. He was elected three times to the national Parliamentary Constituency.[2] The birth anniversary of Muthuramalinga Thevar on October 30 is celebrated annually by the Thevar community in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu as Thevar Jayanthi.[3][4]
Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar
Portrait of Muthuramalinga Thevar on a postal stamp
Born
Pasumpon Ukkirapandi Muthuramalinga Thevar
30 October 1908
Pasumpon (village), Ramnad District, Madras Presidency, British India (now in Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu, India)
Died
30 October 1963 (aged 55)
Resting place
Pasumpon, Tamil Nadu
Other names
Deiva Thirumaganar
Occupations
FarmerPolitician
Known for
Collaboration with Netaji Subash Chandra bose for strengthening INA from Tamil Nadu. Opposition of Criminal Tribes Act.
Political party
All India Forward Bloc
Other political
affiliations
Indian National Congress (Till 1939
Childhood and family life
edit
Muthuramalinga Thevar was born on 30 October 1908 in Pasumpon, Ramnad District. From 1910, he was in the custody of his maternal grandmother Parvathiammal in the neighbouring village of Kallupatti. Parvathiammal was furious with Muthuramalinga Thevar's father for having taken two new wives shortly after the death of his second wife.[citation needed]
During his youth, Muthuramalingam Thevar was aided by Kuzhanthaisami Pillai, a close family friend of his father. Pillai took responsibility of arranging Muthuramalinga Thevar's schooling. First he was given a private tuition and in June 1917 he began attending classes at an elementary school run by the American missionaries in Kamuthi. Later he joined the Pasumalai High School (near Thirupparankundaram) and then he shifted to the Union Christian High School in Madurai.[citation needed]
Muthuramalinga Thevar did not complete his studies. The following year he also missed his chance to attend the final examinations, as he had returned to Pasumpon to fight a legal battle over issues of inheritance on family property. The case lingered and was not settled until 1927, when the court ruled in favour of Muthuramalinga Thevar.[citation needed]
Muthuramalinga Thevar's father died on 6 June 1939.[5]
1936 District Board election
edit
Infuriated by the attitude of the Justice Party government towards the CTA, Thevar concluded that the communities affected by the Act had to be mobilised by the Congress. After returning from a trip to Burma in 1936, he began to work to strengthen the Congress in the southern areas of the Presidency. He contested the election to the Ramnad District Board from the Mudukulathur constituency, defeating his Justice Party opponent. This was Thevar's first experience of being a candidate in an election.[citation needed]
After the election, Thevar made a bid to be elected the president of the District Board, as did P. S. Kumarasamy, the Raja of Rajapalyam. Conflict erupted within the local Congress organisation over the issue. S. Satyamurthi, on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, intervened to preserve the unity of the Congress. Thevar was persuaded to withdraw his candidature and presented a motion nominating Kumarasamy as president.[citation needed]
When the Congress Socialist Party began to mobilise in the Madras Presidency in 1936, Thevar joined their ranks.[7]
1937 provincial election
edit
Ahead of the 1937 elections to the assembly of the Madras Presidency, Thevar enlisted youths from the Mukkulathor communities to work for the Congress. His activities created worries for the Justice Party government, which forbade him to travel outside of the Ramnad district and to make speeches in public.[citation needed]
In February 1937, Thevar contested the assembly election himself, as a Congress candidate in the Ramanathapuram constituency. He had a powerful opponent, the Raja of Ramnad. Thevar won a landslide victory with 11,942 votes against 6,057 for the Raja.[citation needed]
