The Justice Party rule in the Madras Presidency constitutes an important chapter in the history of South India. The ideology and objectives of the Justice Party had been unique and somewhat different from those of the Congress Party. The Justice Party represented the Non-Brahmin Movement and engineered a social revolution against the domination of Brahmins in the sphere of public services and education.
Birth of the Justice Party
Swaminatha Iyer
Various factors had contributed to the formation of the Justice Party, which represented the Non-Brahmin Movement. The social dominance of the Brahmins was the main cause for the emergence of the Non-Brahmin Movement. Their high proportion in the Civil Service, educational institutions and also their predominance in the Madras Legislative Council caused a great worry among the non- Brahmins. The Brahmins had also monopolized the Press. The rediscovery of the greatness of the Tamil language and literature also provided a stimulus to the non-Brahmins. Particularly, the publication of the book entitled A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian Family of Languages by Rev. Robert Caldwell in 1856 gave birth to the Dravidian concept. Later the ancient Tamil literature had been rediscovered and printed by various Tamil scholars including Arumuga Navalar, C.V. Damodaram Pillai and U.V. Swaminatha Iyer. V. Kanakasabhai Pillai in his famous historical work, The Tamils 1800 Years Ago pointed out that Tamils had attained a high degree of civilization before the Advent of the Aryans. This led to the growth of Dravidian feelings among the non-Brahmins. These factors collectively contributed to the birth of the Non-Brahmin Movement and the Justice Party.
