Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
dependence in 1947, until the four existing southern states were created on linguistic lines
in the 1950s.
DRAVIDIAN PRIDE
Since before Indian independence in 1947, Tamil politicians have railed against caste (which they see as favour-
ing light-skinned Brahmins) and the Hindi language (seen as North Indian cultural imperialism). The pre-
Independence 'Self Respect' movement and Justice Party, influenced by Marxism, mixed South Indian communal
values with class-war rhetoric, and spawned Tamil political parties that remain the major powers in Tamil Nadu
today. In the early post-Independence decades there was even a movement for an independent Dravida Nadu na-
tion comprising the four main South Indian peoples, but today Dravidian politics is largely restricted to Tamil
Nadu, where parties are often led by former film stars.
During the conflict in nearby Sri Lanka, many Indian Tamil politicians loudly defended the Tamil Tigers, the
organisation that assassinated Rajiv Gandhi in a village near Chennai in 1991. There is still considerable preju-
dice among the generally tolerant Tamils towards anything Sinhalese.
Throughout the state, male politicians don a white shirt and white
mundu
(sarong), the official uniform of
Tamil pride.
