Heritage walk traces Justice Party’s history

A heritage walk, organised by the Dravidian Historical Research Centre to mark Madras Day celebrations, traced the origins of the Social Justice Dravidian Movement through the places of historical significance in North Chennai.

The first stop was the historic Ripon Building that houses the city Corporation. In the early days of the Justice Party, a party that was born out of the need for representation of non-brahmins in a largely brahmin dominated social order, its stalwart leader P Theagaraya Chetty served as Mayor. A statue of him clad in all white adorns the front of the building, in an ode to his contribution in helping Madras city flourish through policies and schemes that encouraged education and jobs for all. The second stop was the adjoining Victoria Hall that saw the shaping up of the Justice Party with meetings that featured leaders such as Dr TM Nair, Theagaraya Chetty and Natesa Mudaliar.

A short ride then took the participants to Sir Theagaraya College in Washermanpet founded by P Theagaraya Chetty that was aimed at providing education, stay and meals for students from the marginalised and oppressed communities. Further away on Balu Street was the erstwhile house of Theagaraya Chetty which served as a place of gathering in the early days of the Justice Party.

A short distance away was Robinson Park or the Aringnar Anna Poonga, that saw the first foray made by the breakaway faction of the Justice Party in the days of Annadurai and Periyar. The party came to be called the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and it held its first ever meeting at the now-innocuous playground populated by school children playing cricket.

The final stop was at Arivagam, an early headquarters of the DMK. Now being used as a wedding hall, it was here that all meetings of the party’s formative years were held before the headquarters moved to the current Arivalayam.