Outlook Cover Story Replug: Brahmanism At The Crossroads

Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, long defined by its rejection of caste hierarchies, is witnessing a contentious ideological clash. As the state gears up for the upcoming assembly elections, the Dravidian model, rooted in self-respect and social justice, faces a renewed challenge from what critics call the comeback of Brahminism.

This term, as defined by P. Venkataramanan, the treasurer of actor-politician Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), refers not merely to the Brahmin community but to any system of dominance and discrimination. Venkataramanan, contesting his first electoral battle from the Mylapore constituency, argues that while such dominance is an old ideology, its resurgence threatens the very fabric of Tamil society. TVK’s assertions bring a sharp focus on whether Periyar’s Self-Respect Movement can still counter the forces of Hindutva.

The Comeback of Brahminism & What Dravidian Ideology Meant

TVK’s recent statements suggest that Brahminism, as a structure of upper-caste dominance and ritual inequality, is making a quiet but determined comeback in Tamil Nadu’s public and political life. This is not about targeting a community but about challenging a mindset that legitimizes hierarchy. Meanwhile, Dravidian ideology, born from Periyar’s Self-Respect Movement (1925), fundamentally rejected Brahminical social order. It championed rationalism, atheism, gender equality, and the annihilation of caste, asserting a non-Brahmin, Tamil-speaking identity against northern, Sanskritic hegemony. For decades, this ideology shaped TN’s governance. Now, with Hindutva forces seeking a foothold, the question is whether the old guard of social justice can withstand the new ideological assault.

A hundred years ago, when the RSS first began to imagine India as a Hindu Rashtra, the South witnessed the birth of the Self-Respect Movement by E.V. Ramasamy ‘Periyar’ and S. Ramanathan in 1925. Today, with the Tamil Nadu elections approaching, that very movement stands at a crossroads: can it still fight the forces of Hindutva? Outlook’s December 11 issue, 'Dravida', captures these tensions that shape the state at the crossroads of past and future Dravidian politics. Anand Teltumbde examines how caste continues to unsettle India’s social justice movements.

In ‘The Dignity in Self-Respect’, S.V. Rajadurai explains how the movement continues to shape the state’s social realms. Perumal Murugan takes the story to the villages, revealing how it reshaped rural imaginations. In 'The Flow of Thirukkural', Snigdhendu Bhattacharya traces the movement’s evolution across decades, while P.A. Krishnan revisits Periyar’s imprisonment and its political impact. In 'The Outpost', Mohammad Ali studies the Hindutva challenge to the Dravidian model, and Fozia Yasin turns to one of Tamil society’s deepest wounds, the Devadasi system.