Thol. Thirumavalavan
| Thol.Thirumavalavan | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Member of Parliament | |
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In office 31 July 2009 – 17 May 2014 |
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| Constituency | Chidambaram |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
17 August 1962 Anganur, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Political party | VCK |
| Residence | Chennai |
Thirumavalavan or Thol. Thirumavalavan (born 17 August 1962), is an Indian Politician and Tamil activist, Member of Parliament in 15th Lok Sabha and the current President of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi l party in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. He rose to prominence in the 1990s as a Dalit leader, and entered politics in 1999. His political platform centres on ending the caste-based oppression of the Dalits, which he argues can best be achieved through reviving and reorienting Tamil nationalism. He has also expressed support for Tamil nationalist movements and groups elsewhere, including Sri Lanka.
He did his Bachelor's course in chemistry, master's degree in Criminology and completed law at Madras Law College. He worked in the government's Forensic Department as a scientific assistant, which he later resigned in 1999 to contest polls. He contested the 1999 and 2004 general elections unsuccessfully and won the 2009 general elections from the Chidambaram constituency. He won the 2001 state assembly elections in alliance with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a post he resigned in 2004 quoting ideological differences with DMK. He has written a few books and has acted in a few Tamil movies.
Thiruma, being the leader of a caste centred party, is often alleged to have instigated caste violence in Tamil Nadu. His confrontation with Vanniyar-based caste Pattali Makkal Katchi and its leader Ramadoss has resulted in frequent clashes between Dalits and Vanniyars. Both parties accuse each other of instigating violence against the other community. Both Thiruma and Ramadoss reconciled and worked together during the period of 2004 to 2009, when they were part of the same electoral alliance.
In 1988, when working for the government's Forensic Department in the southern city of Madurai, he met Malaichamy, the Tamil Nadu state convenor of the Dalit Panthers of India (DPI), an organisation that fought for the rights of Dalits. The next year, following Malaichamy's death, Thirumalavan was elected the leader of the DPI. He designed a new flag for the organisation in 1990. As part of his work, he also began visiting Dalit villages in the Madurai region, and began learning about the problems faced by Dalits. The killing of two Dalits in 1992, he says, made him more militant. Against the background of increasing Dalit assertiveness, he emerged as one of two major Dalit leaders in Tamil Nadu, with a large base of grassroots support, particularly in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. During early 1997, he was suspended from his government job on account of his increased political activity. He resigned from his job formally in August 1999 to contest in the 1999 Indian general elections.
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