Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
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'Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam' (DMK) is a regional political party in the Tamil Nadu state of India. It was founded by C N Annadurai as a breakaway faction from Dravidar Kazhagam, headed by Periyar. The party is currently headed by M Karunanidhi, the former Chief Minister of the state.
The movement was initially mooted as one that championed the cause of socially and economically disadvantaged sections of the society. It advocated concepts of rationality, self-respect and rejection of casteism and superstitious practices, prevalent in the Tamil society. Prominent members preached militant atheism. The movement was sympathetic to the claim that there were two separate races in India, the Aryans and Dravidians, and the movement claimed to represent the latter. In the early years of its militant struggle, it rejected any concept known to have its origins in the north. There also was a brief period, during which it idealized a separate Dravidian land, comprising the southern regions of India, and Tamil Eelam. The anti-Hindi agitation of 1965, forced the central government to abandon its efforts to stipulate Hindi as the only official language of the country. With the passage of time and a shift in the national political scenario towards coalition governments, however, DMK has adopted a more national outlook. DMK championed the cause of Tamil and used its national clout to make Government of India declare Tamil as classical language. In the enrichment of Tamil literature, the writers belonging to DMK had an important role, although it needs to be pointed out that their contributions have tended to be more of expressions of dissent and disgruntlement at what was perceived as social injustice and domination of certain communities, in the social sphere, and of the Northern parts of India, in the political sphere, and substitution of less often used Tamil words for borrowed-assimilated popular ones for administrative and oratorical purposes, in the linguistic sphere. The 'contributions' pertain to a short period of a few decades and hence their value will need to be evaluated meaningfully only after several more decades, and that only if the contributions evolve additional dimensions of the ethos of linguistic expression that can be compared to those of earlier eras that have truly enriched the Tamil linguistic and literary heritage in a distinct and ever-lasting manner that caters to the innermost spiritual and intellectual needs of not only the upper strata but also the common man in general. The contributions thus far have centered around the party's campaigns for realizing and maintaining political power at a regional (Tamilnadu) level and in central government.
The DMK is also sympathetic and formerly allied to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka.
The DMK has split into the [[AIADMK] and the MDMK. Of this, the AIADMK is the strongest rival party.