A short biography of Mr. Athiyamaan:

Early days:
       Athiyamaan (given name - Subbarao) was born on the 19th day of March 1953 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He is the second of seven siblings born to Mr. Raju and Mrs. Kannammal in an Arunthathiyar family. Mr. Raju, was an ex-councillor and a social activist. He emphasized on education, imparted cleanliness and taught social awareness as key ingredients for success to his children. In honor of his contribution to the society Athiyamaan has published his father’s biography as a book titled "Raju, The liberation hero".

Education:
       Athiyamaan did his primary schooling (1959-1964) in Kenvin Municipal Elementary School, R.S. Puram,

Athiyamaan

Coimbatore and high school (1965-1969) in Municipal High School, North Coimbatore. His higher secondary education (PUC) was done (1969-1970) in PSG Arts College, Peelamedu, Coimbatore. He attended college (1972-1975) for Bachelor of Arts degree in the Government Arts College, Coimbatore.

Occupation and family life:
       After a short stint, he cleared TNPSC and joined the transport department in 1976 as junior assistant and in 1978 he met his future wife P.A. Nalayini. Unlike many of his colleagues, Athiyamaan believed in “caste denunciation” marriage. Belonging to different castes, their marriage was a “caste denial, self respect” marriage organized at “Periyar Thidal” in Chennai under the auspices of the editor of “Viduthalai”, Mr. Veeramani on 25th February 1979. He has a daughter and a son named Thenmozhi and Ezhilarasan.

Burgeoning an era of social service:
       Even as a young student, Athiyamaan showed keen interest in self learning and has spent long hours in public libraries. In 1970s he started attending thought provoking sessions conducted by “Sinthanai Peravai” held at “Kalviyagam” led by Ku.Ve.Ki. Aasaan in Coimbatore. These sessions gave him an opportunity to meet Thanthai Periyar, which was a major turning point in his life. From that moment on, he is an upholder of the principles of Periyarism in his personal life and insists the same to the society. Athiyamaan credits Thanthai Periyar for introducing Dr. Ambedkar to him. Furthermore, his Tamil patriotism led to his alias name "ATHIYAMAAN". His social awakening followed a thirst for knowledge. This saw his fervent reading and frequent visits to Coimbatore public library.

       He joined “Youth Guidance Service” (YGS) in 1980s and served in various capacities within the YGS. He served in


A CALL FROM
ATHIYAMAAN
(ATP BOOK
IN TAMIL)

YGS till 1985. Realizing that YGS could not unite all Arunthathiyar organization within its umbrella, Athiyamaan and his friend Mr. Perumal formed “Tamil Nadu All Arunthathiyar Sangam Coordination" (TAASCO) aiming to unite all Arunthathiyars together. Over 22 Arunthathiyar organization joined TAASCO. On 15th December 1991, under his leadership he organized a Conference titled “Arunthathiyar awareness and Social Justice State Conference” for all Arunthathiyar organizations through TAASCO. More than ten thousand Arunthathiyar participated in the conference. One of the important resolutions of the conference was to obtain “Inner Reservation for Arunthathiyar”. In spite of his efforts and number of organization under the umbrella of TAASCO many leaders failed to recognize the organization. This disappointment led to his resolution to start an organization with strong core principles, without which he thought it would be a bane to unite all Arunthathiyar.  Meantime, he also served as an organizing secretary for 2 years in Tamil Nadu Dalit Liberation Front which was formed in the year 1994 and comprised of 12 dalit organizations. However, this was also later dissolved.

Birth of Aathi Thamizhar Peravai (ATP):
       Athiyamaan was fully convinced that establishing an organization would be possible based only on strong core principles. Taking all these factors into account and based on the teachings and principles of Dr. Ambedkar, Thanthai Periyar and Karl Marx, Athiyamaan established a new revolutionary organization "Aathi Thamizhar Peravai" in the year 1994 with Coimbatore as its Head Quarters.

       ATPs motto pronounces the tenets of liberation, with social justice as its core principle. It states “Arunthathiyar

Portraits of Mr. Athiyamaan
Athiyamaan Portraits

liberation is liberation to all humanity”. Again, at the core of ATP objectives are “caste abolition” with focus on Arunthathiyar liberation, liberation from the evils of manual scavenging and untouchability. ATP resolves to completely eradicate manual scavenging and to fight against the scourge of untouchability.

       Athiyamaan believes that Arunthathiyar women empowerment is central and unless they are liberated, the community will not obtain complete liberation. Athiyamaan named the organization as “Aathithamizhar peravai” to prove the point that Arunthathiyars are the sons of the soil and to completely break the image of Arunthathiyars being pictured as migrated people.

Contributions through ATP:
       Since its inception from 1994, ATP has worked tirelessly under the leadership of Athiyamaan for the social empowerment, upliftment of dignity and political rise of Arunthathiyars in Tamil Nadu.

Eradication of Manual scavenging:
       Athiyamaan has constantly worked towards eradication of manual scavenging through numerous protests. In 2004 he organized a conference against use of scavengers and also spearheaded a rail blockade movement all over Tamil Nadu in 2005 to protest against manual scavenging in the Indian railways. The protest resulted in arrest of around 3000 protesters. This led to the earmarking of Rs.58Cr. in the Tamil Nadu state budget to eradicate Manual Scavenging and also the establishment of sanitary worker’s welfare board established by the then DMK government. Athiyamaan has closely worked with Mr. Bejawada Wilson who is the convenor of Safai Karamchari Andolan (SKA) which is a nation wide organisation that fights relentlessly to abolish manual scavenging. Athiyamaan has participated in their conferences and “Bhim yatras” which is a nationwide rally covering all the states of India insisting on the abolition of manual scavenging.

3% Inner Reservation for Arunthathiyars:
       In 2007 Athiyamaan was instrumental in raising the issue of special inner reservation of Schedule Caste

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reservation to provide quota for Arunthathiyar through continuous protest for 2 years. He personally met Kalaignar Karunanidhi, the then chief minister of Tamilnadu and requested to provide a special reservation for arunthathiyar. After this meeting and after Athiyamaan’s continuous demand for the same through various form of protests and conferences, Kalaignar Karunanidhi organized for an all party meeting. Athiyamaan who spoke at the all party meeting on behalf of arunthathiyar community provided the members with statistics which proved that arunthathiyar are in desparate need of a special reservation. He insisted that arunthathiyar should be given a 6% reservation according to their population in Tamilnadu.

       Kalaignar appointed a judiciary commission headed by justice Janarthanan to come up with recommendations for providing the reservation. Athiyamaan also met with Justice Janarthanan and provided him with all the statistical data about the pathetic condition of arunthathiyar in Tamilnadu. The commission recommended for a 2.8% reservation for arunthathiyar which was very less from what Athiyamaan demanded for. He immediately met with Kalaignar with other representatives of the community and hardly argued with him that the recommended percentage was not enough. Since Kalaignar insisted to accept the then recommendation first and promised Athiyamaan that the reservation percentage would be increased in the future. Athiyamaan with a heavy heart accepted Kalaignar’s words following which the special separate reservation quota of 3% for Arunthathiyar was implemented by the Tamil Nadu government (DMK).

Revival of Arunthathiyar history:
       It was considered that Arunthathiyars were not the sons of the soil and were migrants to Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Athiyamaan's Gallery
Athiyamaan Gallery

Athiyamaan has played a vital role in reviving Arunthathiyar history in Tamil Nadu. He has published various books on Arunthathiyar history in Tamil Nadu. He brought to light the true history of Arunthathiyar heroes Ondiveeran and Maduraiveeran through in house Aathithamizhar Peravai Publications.

 Other social activities:
       Athiyamaan has participated not just for cause of Arunthathiyars but have also contributed for various causes towards social justice and has worked closely with organizations and outfits which have the same core principles.

Role in Tamil Nadu Politics:
       Athiyamaan believes political support is crucial for empowerment of Arunthathiyar. In line with the belief, he supported Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in 2006 Tamil Nadu State Assembly elections, which formed the Government in 2006. He supported DMK in 2014 Lok Sabha elections too. Continuing ATP’s journey in politics, ATP expects to be a part of DMK led alliance in 2016 Tamil Nadu State Assembly elections.
       Furthermore, Athiyamaan’s efforts have enabled the empowerment of the youth of Arunthathiyar community. Today ATP has grown into a vibrant organization with branches spread all across Tamil Nadu and stands as a beacon of hope for the Arunthathiyar community. Since its inception Athiyamaan has and is working hard and relentlessly for the upliftment of  Arunthathiyar Community through ATP.

 “Today Athiyamaan's voice is a voice to the oppressed”.

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