Pappa Umanath (5 August 1931 – 17 December 2010) was an Indian politician from the southern state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

and a women's rights activist who co-founded the

All India Democratic Women's Association All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) is a women's organisation committed to achieving democracy, equality and Women's rights, women's emancipation. It has an organisational presence in 23 states in India, with a current membership o ...

in 1973. She was a member of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

and was elected from the Thiruverumbur Constituency to the

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members, all of whom are democratically elected using the first-past-the-post system. The presiding office ...

in 1989.

Life and career

Pappa Umanath was born as Dhanalakshmi on 5 August 1931 in Kovilpathu, near

Karaikal Karaikal (, , Help:IPA/French, /kaʁikal/) is a port city of the Indian States and territories of India, Union Territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is the administrative headquarters of the Karaikal district, Karaikal Di ...

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now in Puducherry, a Union Territory in India). Her mother, Lakshmi, alias Alamelu, moved to

Golden Rock, Tiruchirappalli Golden Rock (, ''Ponmalai'') is one of the four zones of Tiruchirappalli. The railway colony and railway workshop are nearby Demographics The majority of the area is occupied by Golden Rock Railway Workshop and its residential colonies for i ...

after her husband's death. Lakshmi started a canteen near the

Golden Rock Railway Workshop The Golden Rock Railway Workshop (officially the Central Workshop, Golden Rock, abbreviated GOC), in Ponmalai (Golden Rock), Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, is one of three railway workshops serving Indian Railways' Southern Railway zone. The wo ...

for railway workers. The railway workers who came to the canteen used to call Dhanalakshmi "Pappa" (small girl), which became the origin of her name. At a young age, Pappa participated in several agitations along with her mother and railway workers. Dhanalakshmi joined the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

(CPI) in 1945 and moved to Madras (now

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

). In 1948, the CPI was banned by the Government of India and members of the party were arrested, including Dhanalakshmi, her mother, and a number of the party's leaders. In the jail, when members of the party went on a fast against authorities, her mother died after 23 days of fasting. Pappa was not allowed by the jail authorities to attend her mother's funeral, as she refused to quit the party. In 1952, Dhanalakshmi married fellow party member R. Umanath in a self-respect marriage. She was arrested again during the

Sino-Indian war The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...

. In 1964, her party split in two, and she joined the newly formed Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). She co-founded the All India Democratic Women's Association in 1973 and became its general secretary. She contested the

1984 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election The eighth legislative assembly election for Tamil Nadu was held on 24 December 1984. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won the election and its general secretary, incumbent M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R) was sworn in as Chief Mini ...

from Thiruverumbur Constituency, but lost. She won the election in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

but lost again in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

. She had three daughters, one of whom was U. Vasuki, a CPI(M) politician. She died on 17 December 2010 in

Trichy Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Umanath, Pappa 1931 births 2010 deaths Indian women's rights activists Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu MLAs 1989–1991 Indian women activists Activists from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian women politicians People from Nagapattinam district Politicians from Tiruchirappalli Women members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly