Rettamalai Srinivasan

Rettamalai Srinivasan an Indian social reformer, politician, journalist, freedom fighter.

He was one of the pioneers of the Scheduled Caste movement in India.

Founder of the ‘Adi Dravida Mahajana Sabha’.

Founder of the tamil newspaper ‘The Paraiyan’.

Founder of the ‘Madras Province Scheduled Castes’ Party, a political organization.

He shared close associations with Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar.

He also worked as a translator in a South African court when Gandhi was practicing there as an advocate.

He represented the Paraiyars at the first two Round Table Conferences in London alongside Ambedkar.

He was a signatory to the historic Poona Pact (1932), which addressed the political representation of the Depressed Classes.

He strongly expressed the identity of the Depressed Classes, stating that they were outside the Hindu fold and identified them as “full-blooded Dravidians.”

He authored his autobiography Jeeviya Sarithira Surukkam (A Brief Autobiography), which is regarded as one of the earliest Dalit autobiographies.

He was honored with titles such as Rao Sahib, Rao Bahadur, and Diwan Bahadur for his contributions to society.
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