N. Sivaraj

Rao Bahadur Namasivayam Sivaraj (29 September 1892 – 29 September 1964) was an Indian lawyer, politician and Scheduled Caste activist from the state of Tamil Nadu.

N. Sivaraj
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 1957–1961
Preceded by	O. V. Alagesan
Succeeded by	A. Krishnaswamy
Constituency	Chengalpattu
Personal details
Born	29 September 1892 Cudappah, Madras Presidency, British India (now Andhra Pradesh, India)
Died	29 September 1964 (aged 72) Chennai,Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Republican Party of India
Other political affiliations	Justice Party (India)
Spouse(s)	Annai Meenambal Shivaraj
Alma mater	Madras Law College
Occupation	Politician, Activist

Annai Meenambal (L), Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (C) and Rao Bahadur N. Sivaraj (R) during "The All India SCF women's conference" held at Bombay, on May 6th, 1945

Early life and education

Sivaraj was born into a Scheduled Caste family to Namsivayam, an accounts officer, on 29 September 1892 in the town of Cuddapah in the then Madras Presidency.[1] His ancestors were from the town of Poonamallee near Madras. N. Sivaraj passed his matriculation in 1907 and did B.A from Presidency College, Madras in 1911. In 1915 he graduated as a lawyer from the Madras Law College and practised as a junior under Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer.[2] He worked as a lecturer in the Madras Law College for a period of thirteen years.

Family

Sivaraj was married to Annai Meenambal and had four children.[3]

Politics

Sivaraj was one of the prominent leaders in Depressed Class Federation. He was one of the founding members of the Justice Party in 1917 and supported it till 1926.[4] He was mayor in Madras Municipal Corporation in 1945 and served till 1946. He was nominated to the Madras Legislative Council in 1926 and served as member till 1937. From 1937 to 1945, Sivaraj served as a member of Imperial Legislative Council. He participated in the 1952, 1957 and 1962 Lok Sabha elections and served as the Member of Parliament from Chengalpattu constituency.

He was an active member of Self Respect Movement, Anti-Brahminism movement and Women's Rights movement in Tamil Nadu along with Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy.[5]

All India Scheduled Castes Federation was a first all India political party exclusively for the Depressed Class founded by B. R. Ambedkar in a national convention held at Nagpur during 17–20 July 1942. It was presided by Sivaraj and he was elected as its first President.[6]

When the Republican Party of India was founded in 1957, he was again elected as its first president and continued working to establish the organisation until he died in 1964.[7]

Notes

1. Basu, Raj Sekhar (14 February 2011). Nandanar's Children: The Paraiyans' Tryst with Destiny, Tamil Nadu 1850 - 1956. SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-81-321-0514-5.
2. Shakunthala Jagannathan (1999). Sir C. P. Remembered. Vakils, Feffer and Simmons Ltd. p. 74. ISBN 81-87111-27-5.
3. "30 November – Remembering Annai Meenambal Sivaraj – First Dalit Woman President of South India Scheduled Castes Federation (SCF)". Velivada. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
4. Thanthai N. Sivaraj: National Level Leader Who Worked for the Scheduled Classes of India.
5. गीता, V. Geetha वी (21 June 2017). "Ambedkar and Periyar's intellectual comradeship". Forward Press. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
6. "Dr.Ambedkar and All India Scheduled Castes Federation". Retrieved 15 November 2017.
7. Khobragade, Fulchand (2014). Suryaputra Yashwantrao Ambedkar (in Marathi). Nagpur: Sanket Prakashan. pp. 20, 21.

References

• Ramacandra Kshirasagara (1994). Dalit Movement in India. M. D. Publications. pp. 331–333. ISBN 978-81-85880-43-3.