M. C. Rajah

Mylai Chinna Thambi Rajah (17 June 1883 – 23 August 1943[2]) was a Tamil politician, social and political activist from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

M. C. Rajah
Born(1883-06-17)17 June 1883
St. Thomas Mount, Madras
Died23 August 1943(1943-08-23) (aged 60)[1]
St. Thomas Mount, Madras
NationalityIndian
Other namesPerunthalaivar
Alma materMadras Christian College
OccupationScheduled Castes Rights Activist, Freedom Fighter, Politician

Rajah was born to a Tamil family of Madras. He entered politics after graduation and was a leader in the Justice Party. However, he quit the party in 1923 over the party's treatment of the then Depressed Classes. He was the first leader who organized the Scheduled Classes at the national level in India, and the most prominent Scheduled Classes leader of pre-independent India.[2] In his heyday, Rajah was considered to be a person equal in stature to Ambedkar. He was the pioneer of Mid-day meal scheme in India.[3]

Early life

Rajah was born to Mylai Chinna Thambi in 1883[4] at St Thomas Mount, Madras.[5] Chinna Thambi Pillai was the manager of Lawrence Asylum.[6] Rajah had his schooling at the Wesley Mission High School, Royapettah[6] and Wesley College.[7] He graduated from Madras Christian College[8] and worked as a school Teacher [9] and then Professor.

Politics

Rajah joined politics at an early age and was elected president of the Chingleput district board.[10] In 1916, he became the Secretary of the Adi-Dravida Mahajana Sabha.[11] He was one of the founder-members of the South Indian Liberal Federation. Rajah was elected to the Madras Legislative Council as a Justice Party candidate during the first general elections held in November 1920.[7][12] He was elected Deputy Leader of the Justice Party in the house. Rajah was the first member of the scheduled caste community to be elected to the Madras Legislative Council.[13] In 1922, Rajah passed a resolution demanding that the terms Paraiya and Panchama be dropped from official usage and instead be substituted with Adi-Dravida and Adi-Andhra.[11]

In 1921, the Justice Party government of the Raja of Panagal introduced reservations for backward classes in government jobs. However, this act did not allocate quotas for scheduled castess as demanded by MC Rajah.[14] Disenchanted, Rajah led a delegation of scheduled castes to protest the act and press their demand for inclusion. But the Justice Party did not respond.[14] Instead, when riots broke out in Puliyanthope the same year, top-ranking Justice Party leaders regarded the Government's policy of appeasement of paraiyars responsible for the strike.[15] Outraged at this, Rajah quit the party in 1923.[14][15] He remained a member of the Madras Legislative Council till 1926. In 1925, he created and became the president of the All India Depressed Classes Association at Nagpur.[16] From 1926 till 1937, he was a member of the Imperial Legislative Assembly. During April–July 1937 he was the Madras Presidency's Minister for Development in the short lived interim provisional cabinet of Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu.[17]

Change of Views

Originally Perunthalaivar M.C. Rajah stood for the Separate Electorates and Dr. Ambedkar for the Joint Electorates with Adult Suffrage and Reservation of seats.[18] But Dr. Ambedkar changed his state of mind to the separate electorate, putting forth separate electorates as an united demand of the then Depressed Classes due to the pressure from M.C. Rajah and Madras Presidency Organisations in 1931.[19] However M.C. Rajah changed his mind to Joint Electorates with reserved seats on population basis due to lower representation of the Minority Pact in 1932.[20] So he concluded a pact with two members of the Indian National Congress, B. S. Moonje[21][22] and Jadhav. This was known as the Rajah-Moonje pact. According to this pact, Moonje offered reserved seats to the Scheduled Castes in return for Rajah's support. The Rajah-Moonje Pact was a precursor for the Poona Pact.

Death

Rajah died on Monday, 23 August 1943[2] at his house on "St. Thomas Mount", today named as "Rajah Street".[10] To honour his works, Bayya Suryanarayana Murthy founded the M.C. Rajah Memorial Hostel for the college students of the Scheduled Classes in 1944 at Saidapet in Madras.[23]

Publications
  • Rajah, M. C. (1939). Independence Without, Freedom Within: Speech of Rao Bahadur M.C. Rajah, M.L.A., at the Madras Legislative Assembly on the 26th October 1939 on the Congress Resolution on India and the War.
  • Rajah, M. C.; J. Shivashunmugham Pillai (1930). The Life, Select Writings and Speeches of Rao Bahadur M. C. Rajah. Indian Publishing House.
  • Jain Meeanakshi, Rajah-Moonje Pact: Documents On A Forgotten Chapter Of Indian History (with Devendra Svarupa, Low Price Publishers, 2007), ISBN 8184540787.

See also

Notes
  1. Ambeth, அம்பேத்: Prof. M.C. Rajah's Death (23 August 1943), And Condolence Resolution of The All India SCF And The Justice Party.
  2. Ambeth, அம்பேத்: Perunthalaivar M. C. Rajah -- The First Leader who Organized the Scheduled Classes at the National Level in India.
  3. Ambeth, அம்பேத்: Perunthalaivar M. C. Rajah: The Pioneer for Mid-day Meal Scheme in India.
  4. Reed, Stanley (1929). The Times of India Directory and Year Book Including Who's who. Bennett, Coleman & Co. p. 114.
  5. Chandra, Romesh; Sangh Mitthra (2003). Dalit Identity in the New Millennium. Commonwealth Publishers. p. 91. ISBN 978-81-7169-765-6.
  6. Kshirasagara, Ramachandra (1994). Dalit Movement in India and Its Leaders, 1857-1956: 1857-1956. M. D. Publications. p. 302. ISBN 978-81-85880-43-3.
  7. Indian Bibliographic Centre Research Wing, Indian Bibliographic Centre (2000). Dictionary of Indian Biography. Indian Bibliographic Centre. p. 348. ISBN 978-81-85131-15-3.
  8. https://www.mcc.edu.in/index.php/alumini/distinguished-alumni
  9. Chandrahekar, S. (1995). Colonialism, Conflict, and Nationalism: South India, 1857-1947. Wishwa Prakashan. p. 110. ISBN 978-81-7328-040-5.
  10. Natesan, G. A. (1943). The Indian Review. G.A. Natesan & Co. p. 425.
  11. Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: Rise of lower castes in North India. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 169. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8.
  12. NMML Manuscripts: An Introduction. Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. 2003. p. 410. ISBN 978-81-87614-05-0.
  13. Ambeth, அம்பேத்: Prof. M.C. Rajah's Effort For The Representation of The Scheduled Classes In The Late 1910s.
  14. Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: Rise of lower castes in North India. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8.
  15. Mendelsohn, Oliver; Marika Vicziany (1998). The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty, and the State in Modern India. Cambridge University Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-521-55671-2.
  16. Ambeth, அம்பேத்: Perunthalaivar M. C. Rajah -- The First Leader who Organized the Scheduled Classes at the National Level in India.
  17. Justice Party Golden Jubilee Souvenir, 1968.
  18. Ambeth, அம்பேத்: Perunthalaivar M. C. Rajah and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
  19. Ambeth, அம்பேத்: Perunthalaivar M. C. Rajah and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
  20. Ambeth, அம்பேத்: Perunthalaivar M. C. Rajah and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
  21. Pritchett. "Rajah, Rao Bahadur M. C." University of Columbia. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  22. Kothari, R. (2004). Caste in Indian Politics. Orient Blackswan. p. 46. ISBN 978-81-250-0637-4.
  23. Ambeth, அம்பேத்: Prof. M.C. Rajah's Death (23 August 1943), And Condolence Resolution of The All India SCF And The Justice Party.
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