Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (; VCK), formerly known as the Dalit Panthers of India or the Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam (; DPI), is an Indian

social movement A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or Political movement, political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to re ...

and political party that seeks to combat caste based

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

, active in the 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 ...

. The party also has a strong emphasis on

Tamil nationalism Tamil nationalism is the ideology which asserts that the Tamils, Tamil people constitute a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Tamil people. Tamil nationalism is primarily a secular nationalism, that focus on language and homeland. I ...

. Its chairman is

Thol. Thirumavalavan Tholkappiyan Thirumavalavan (born in 17 August 1962 as Ramasamy Thirumavalavan), better known as Thol. Thirumavalavan is a political leader, scholar and activist from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is a Member of Parliament from Ch ...

, a lawyer from

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 ...

, and its general secretary is the writer Ravikumar.

History

The Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam was formed in 1982 in

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

. The group was found to seek protection of Dalits from caste-related violence. Founded by a group of disaffected

Dalits Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for Untouchability, untouchables and Outcast (person), outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called ...

under the leadership of M. Malalchami, it emerged as a loosely organised group of local activists seeking assistance and protection through the association of a larger movement. The movement was inspired by the Dalit Panthers of India, a social movement which itself had formed earlier in the 1970s in

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

which itself was inspired by the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...

, a socialist movement that sought to combat racial discrimination in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1989, after the death of the founder of Dalit Panthers of India (DPI), Thirumavalavan became its leader. In the 1990s the party grew by highlighting

and

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

-based

violence Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

. In 1999, VCK contested elections for the first time. VCK was allotted different election symbols in every election. In 2014, Madras HC ordered the Election Commission of India to consider VCK's request for

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

as their election symbol.

Party principles

The main aim of the party is to abolish the differences among

Tamil people The Tamils ( ), also known by their endonym Tamilar, are a Dravidian ethnic group who natively speak the Tamil language and trace their ancestry mainly to the southern part of the Indian subcontinent. The Tamil language is one of the longe ...

and to lift up the socio-economically weaker sections of society. The party supported the freedom movement of Tamil people in

Tamil Eelam Tamil Eelam (, ''tamiḻ īḻam''; generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம்) is a proposed independence, independent sovereign state, state that many Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lan ...

, as well as the security of Tamil people living abroad. The party also declared that

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

should be charged with

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

for the alleged assassination of thousands of innocent Tamil people during war against the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

. In the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...

in May 2012, Thirumavalavan joined other leaders and raised issue of the Ambedkar cartoon, sparking a controversy in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. Ahead of the 2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, Thirumavalavan stated his willingness to form a coalition with any party apart from the DMK, AIADMK, BJP and PMK.

Tamil Eelam

VCK formed Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization (TESO) along with DMK, DK, NTK, and demonstrated protests demanding credential probe into war time crimes against the Sri Lankan government during the war between the

Tamil Tigers The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

and the Sri Lankan government. Thousands of innocent Tamil people were brutally tortured and murdered during the war. Many countries raised complaints against the Sri Lankan government in the United Nations International Criminal Court of Justice. VCK demanded that former Sri Lankan President Rajapakse should be charged with war crimes. Many of its party men were arrested by Tamil Nadu police for creating public discomfort during protests against the Sri Lankan government. The party is heavily criticised for supporting LTTE and its leader Prabakaran, since LTTE is banned in India. VCK is accused of promoting

and supporting the banned group

. Although major Tamil political parties DMK and ADMK both are accused of indirectly supporting LTTE, VCK is accused of supporting LTTE leader openly in its party posters. The LTTE was involved in the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of former Indian prime minister

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the Assassination of Indira Gandhi, assassination of his mother, then–prime ...

. VCK Party has demanded the premature release of the assassination convicts along with major Tamil parties like NTK, MDMK, PMK, SMK, AIADMK and DMK. It has also celebrated the birth day of slain LTTE leader Prabakaran along with other Tamil parties.

Controversies

In April 2019, members of the

RSS RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many ...

affiliated,

Hindutva Hindutva (; ) is a Far-right politics, far-right political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Da ...

group Hindu Munnani broke an earthen pot, the election symbol of VCK at the village of Ponparappi,

Ariyalur Ariyalur () is a town and district headquarters of Ariyalur district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is rich in limestone, surrounded with seven cement factories and two sugar factories. The town is located at a distance of from ...

block, Tiruchi. The incident happened in front of the Panchayat Office where the Tamil Nadu general election polling was going on which lead to a quarrel. This is said to have resulted a retaliatory violence against the

Dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

s. ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' reported a mob of 100 engaged in violence against the Dalits and at least 20 tiled houses which had the VCK symbol were totally damaged. A. Kathir of Evidence, a rights organisation based in

claimed 13 people were admitted at hospitals, 25 houses were fully damaged and 115 houses were damaged. Tirumavalavan after visiting the area, told the media that the PMK and Hindu Munnani were responsible for the violence. In December 2022, VCK protested the

saffronisation Saffronisation is the right-wing policy approach in India that seeks to implement Hindu nationalist views to counter the mainstream discourse, for example onto school textbooks. Critics have used this political neologism. Etymology Saffron is ...

of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

Indian Constitution The Constitution of India is the supreme legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and ...

Electoral performance

Lok Sabha Elections

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections

References

External links

Location of VCK party officeOfficial website of Thirumavalavan
*News coverage
Wikinews IndiaNDTV''The Hindu''
*TASMAC Campaig

*Gandhian Principles Propagand

*TASMAC band
Political parties want TASMAC shop closed
*Against Liquo
Tamil Nadu bandh: Normal life not affected as protesters target only liquor shops
*Against TASMA
Tamil Nadu bandh: Normal life not affected as protesters target only liquor shops
*Tamil Fishermen issu
PMK, VCK too oppose Marine Fisheries Bill
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/vck-plea-for-release-of-fishermen/article6577776.ec

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/death-sentence-for-fishermen-shocking/article6550723.ec
VCK Calls SL Death Sentence Politically Motivated Decision
https://web.archive.org/web/20160312014947/http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/article160050.ece PMK, VCK too oppose Marine Fisheries Bill] *Tamil Eelam issu
'Unarmed VCK men to fight for Eelam'
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/politics/vck-not-to-dilute-stand-on-tamil-eelam-364113.html Breaking News, Live Election 2022 Results: Assembly Election 2022, Dates, Photos, Polls and Results] *People welfare Fron

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/puducherry/peoples-welfare-front-promises-statehood-prohibition/article8207868.ec

http://www.ndtv.com/topic/people-welfare-front People Welfare Front: Latest News, Photos, Videos on People Welfare Fron
People Welfare Front: Latest News, Photos, Videos on People Welfare Front
*Tamil Eelam Supporter's organisatio
Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization observes Black Day against Rajapaksa's participation at UNGA session
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Tamil-Eelam-Supporters-Organisation-(TESO) Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO): Latest News, Videos and Photos of Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) , Times of India
TESO Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation Conference Resolutions August 12 2012 Chennai Tamil Nadu Sri Lanka
http://indianexpress.com/tag/tamil-eelam-supporters-organisation/ Abou

http://www.dnaindia.com/topic/tamil-eelam-supporters-organisation Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisatio

https://web.archive.org/web/20160312021602/http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/VCK-condemns-demolition-of-compound-wall-of-memorial/2013/11/20/article1901526.ec

*Jallikattu Issu

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/jallikattu-allowed-centre-makes-arrangements-for-bull-taming-in-tn/story-fBzddqoyWagokI5X7E36dK.htm

http://guindytalk.com/news-tags/vck-thol-thirumavalavan-news] *LTTE Ban controversie

http://www.oneindia.com/2008/01/27/lift-ban-on-ltte-vck-to-centre-1201422790.htm

http://asianmirror.lk/news/item/6989-pro-ltte-tamil-nadu-parties-urges-india-to-support-npc-resolution] {{United Progressive Alliance 1982 establishments in Tamil Nadu Dalit politics Former member parties of the United Progressive Alliance Political parties established in 1982 Political parties in Tamil Nadu Tamil nationalism Member parties of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance