Suba Veerapandian

Subbaiah Palaniappan Veerapandian (born 22 April 1952), known popularly as Suba Veerapandian or Subavee, is an Indian political activist, author, orator, former Tamil-language professor and former film artist. Since 2007, he has been serving as the general secretary of the Dravida Iyyakka Tamilar Peravai, a Tamil Nadu-based political organisation that aims to promote Ambedkarite, Dravidian and Marxist ideals in the State and elsewhere.

In 2021, Subavee was appointed to two posts – Member of the Advisory Committee for Tamil Nadu Text Book and Educational Services Corporation, and as chairperson of the newly constituted Social Justice Monitoring Committee of Tamil Nadu.

Early life and career

Subavee was born in Karaikudi on the early morning of 22 April 1952 as the youngest of seven children to Rama.Subbaiah (1908–1997) and Visalatchi (d.19 September 1987). His eldest living brother is Tamil film director S. P. Muthuraman. As per the norms in their region, Subavee's parents gave him another name – Pazhaniyappan (name of his paternal grandfather) – which became obsolete over time.

Subavee joined Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai to do a master's degree in Tamil literature. In 1973, he graduated from Madras University with a gold medal in Tamil Literature. His classmates included Tamil poet Vairamuthu. From 1982 to 1986, Subavee was also a part-time PhD scholar at the Department of Tamil, Presidency College, Chennai.

After completing his education, he joined as a typist-cum-clerk in Madras University on 16 August 1971. In 1976, he joined as a tutor of Tamil at S.I.V.E.T College in Chennai, as a lecturer of Tamil at Sentamil College, Thiruppanandal (14 September 1982 – February 1984) and then in P. M.T. College in Tirunelveli district (Feb- Dec 1984). On 5 December 1984, he rejoined S.I.V.E.T College.

Following the Madras High Court's dismissal of an order (which caused a break in his career), Subavee resumed teaching at S.I.V.E.T College from February 1997. On 15 September, he submitted his letter for voluntary retirement and was relieved on the evening of 15 December.

Political activism Subavee has been an atheist right from his early years. He developed an early interest in politics, owing to his father Rama.Subbaiah's status as an ardent supporter of the Dravidian movement, a member of the DMK's general council, and as a Member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Council from the party. Rama.Subbaiah was also housed in Tiruchirappalli Central Prison in 1953 for participating with DMK leader M. Karunanidhi in the Kallakudi demonstration, a part of the Anti-Hindi agitations.

Subavee was greatly influenced and motivated by the speeches of "Periyar" EV Ramasamy, C.N. Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi, "Navalar" V. R. Nedunchezhiyan, E. V. K. Sampath, K. Kalimuthu and P. Seenivasan. Apart from campaigning for his father in the Karaikudi seat during the 1957 Madras Legislative Assembly election, Subavee also participated in the 1965 phase of the Anti-Hindi agitations as a Class IX student. along with others including professor-poet Kuruvikkarambai Shanmugam for a week in connection with a protest organised by the Association of University Teachers (AUT), in which he was serving as Secretary for Zone II. The protest was against the first MGR ministry's decision to shift the Pre-university course (PUC) in Tamil Nadu's higher education institutions to schools (as classes XI and XII). The protesters feared that the government's decision will affect existing staff in PUCs. Eventually, the government announced that PUC teachers will be transferred to colleges with vacant posts.

In 1980, he befriended poet Inkulab and gained an interest in Communism. During the years of work in Thiruppanandal, Subavee began to participate in public events. This enabled him to gain friendship with writers Pothiya Verpan and Kudanthai Geethalayan, who enhanced his inclination towards Marxism. During this imprisonment, he was suspended from his job as professor. He got bail in late December, a year before his voluntary retirement as a professor in late 1997.

From 1998, he began to accept the Eelam Tamil diaspora's calls to travel abroad and to gather international support for the "rationales behind the struggle of the LTTE". The National Television of Tamileelam (NTT), the Tigers' official television channel, reported Prabhakaran's statement: "Father Gaspar and Subavee are campaigning for us all over Europe. [The Tamil diaspora] should receive them and utilize them for meetings".

In 2001, Subavee quit the Tamil-Tamilar Iyakkam due to differences with Thiyagu, and worked solely with Tamilchandror Peravai. " [People like Thiyagu and Maniyarasan] gradually created the impression that Tamil nationalism was more correct than Dravidian nationalism. They instilled in me the idea that Dravidian nationalism was also a factor in the obstruction of Tamil nationalism. I also believed this to be true. I criticized all other Dravidian leaders except Periyar. Among the leaders who came under my severe criticism are Kalaignar [Karunanidhi] and Asiriyar Ayya Veeramani [ Dravidar Kazhagam president ] ". — Subavee. Earlier, on 11 July 2002, the same section was used to book MDMK general secretary Vaiko under similar charges. On 29 March 2003, the Government of India submitted in the Supreme Court that Vaiko's speech constituted an act of terrorism under the POTA. This meant that Vaiko, Subavee and others were likely to get up to 10 years of imprisonment. On the early morning of 30 March 2003, DMK president M. Karunanidhi asked his party MP and the then Union minister T. R. Baalu to pressurise the Union government into changing their statement. On the same day, the ruling National Democratic Alliance held a discussion meet in New Delhi, during which Baalu criticised the government's statement. He also conveyed Karunanidhi's stand to Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani and Minister of Law & Justice Arun Jaitley. The next day, Jaitley announced that there were some errors in the government's statement that were corrected by redacting paragraphs 12 and 13. He added that some junior lawyers had erroneously written in the statement that even verbal support to a proscribed organisation amounts to terrorism. Jaitley clarified that the Union government did not endorse the said statement. As a result, Subavee, Paavanan and Thayappan were released under bail on 22 December 2003 (Vaiko received bail on 7 February 2004). This was the point from which Subavee started to consistently wear a black shirt.

On the same day of their release, Subavee and Thayappan went to Anna Arivalayam (the DMK's headquarters) and met Karunanidhi to thank him for his involvement in their release. This was not received well by some members of the Tamilar Desiya Iyakkam. However, Nedumaran himself met Karunanidhi with Subavee on 9 January 2004, a day after being released. Both Subavee and Nedumaran campaigned all over Tamil Nadu for the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance during the 2004 Indian general election. However, during the 2006 Tamil Nadu assembly election, Tamilar Desiya Iyakkam refused to campaign for the alliance. Protesting this decision, Subavee quit as the organisation's general secretary and primary member on 15 April. On Nakkeeran Gopal's arrangement, he met Karunanidhi on 17 April. From 19 April onwards, he began to speak in pro-DMK meetings. After Karunanidhi returned as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 2006, he withdrew the POTA cases that his predecessor J. Jayalalithaa filed against Subavee, Nedumaran, Paavanan and Thayappan.

During Karunanidhi's rule, Subavee was able to bring to his direct attention much news pertaining to the Eelam issue. He arranged a 70-minutes-long meeting on 20 December 2006, in which five Sri Lankan Tamil MPs – R. Sampanthan, Mavai Senathirajah, Suresh Premachandran, Selvam Adaikalanathan and G. G. Ponnambalam – spoke with Karunanidhi, M. K. Stalin and M. K. Kanimozhi. The topics of the discussion included the sufferings undergone by the Eelam Tamils, state terrorism, and the Supreme Court's ruling against former Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene's 1988 proclamation of merging the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Promising the MPs of all possible help, Karunanidhi sent Subavee to accompany the MPs to Delhi on 22 December to meet the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. (Dravidian Movement's Tamils' Assembly) at Kalaivanar Arangam, in the presence of K. Anbazhagan (then Tamil Nadu's Minister of Finance). The motto of the organisation is "ஆரியத்தால் வீழ்ந்தோம், திராவிடத்தால் எழுந்தோம், தமிழியத்தால் வெல்வோம்" ("(We) fell by Aryanism, arose by Dravidianism, and will win by Tamilism"). Subavee has been serving as its general secretary ever since.

Subavee campaigned for the DMK alliance during the 2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election. His campaign began on 23 March in Thiruvarur and ended on the evening of 11 April in Neyveli.

On 12 August 2012, he participated in the "Eelam Tamils Rights Protection Conference" organised by the DMK, in which many other luminaries from outside Tamil Nadu were present.

On 2 January 2022, Ka. Su. Nagarajan's Tamil Nadu Dravidar Kazhagam (not to be confused with the Dravidar Kazhagam) merged with the Dravida Iyyakka Tamilar Peravai. The merger ceremony was held at the Corporation Kalaiarangam in Coimbatore. The event was attended by V. Senthil Balaji (then Tamil Nadu Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise) and M. Kannappan (former Union Minister for Non-conventional energy sources). At the ceremony, Subavee appointed Nagarajan as the Peravai's state organisation secretary. The latter's predecessor Pulendran was appointed as the Peravai's state principal secretary. Subavee indicated that many other Periyarist organisations would come to work with the Peravai. Furthermore, he said that the Peravai would hold protests for abolishing National Eligibility cum Entrance Test and for State Rights.

Subavee has advocated for progressive reforms pertaining to caste abolition and women's rights.

Positions held On 27 July 2021, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin appointed Subavee as a member of the Advisory Committee for Tamil Nadu Text Book and Educational Services Corporation (TNTBESC).

On 22 October 2021, Subavee also became Chairperson of the Social Justice Monitoring Committee of Tamil Nadu.

Journalism During his career as a professor, Subavee wrote articles and poems for several journals, including Chutti, Viduthalai, Unmai, and Thenmozhi (owned by Perunchithiranar). In 1984, he published the தமிழீழச் சிவப்பு மலர் (translit.Tamiḻīḻac civappu malar; meaning Red Flower of Tamil Eelam) exposing the anti-Tamils violence in Sri Lanka. Later, he served as editor-in-chief for Ini (Hereafter; 26 November 1992 -December 1995), Nandan Vazhi (Nandan's Way; 1 May 1997 – 28 March 2000), and Thaayagam (Homeland).

He is currently the editor of the fortnightly magazine Karunchattai Tamilar (Blackshirt Tamils) since July 2007.

Works Subavee began to keep a diary right since 1963. He has written nearly 40 books on Tamil literature, politics and history. He also has written and published 11 short stories as of 2012. +YearTamil title (Transliteration)MeaningTypePublisher1972புதுத் தென்றல் (Putut teṉṟal)New Breeze [co-authored with Sembai Xavier] PoetryPaari Nilayam, Chennai1985இந்தக் காலக் கவிதை உத்திகள் (Intak kālak kavitai uttikaḷ)Poetic Techniques of This AgeKanimuthup Pathipagam, Chennai1987பகத்சிங்கும் இந்திய அரசியலும் (Pakatciṅkum intiya araciyalum)Bhagat Singh and Indian PoliticsPolitical critiqueTamil Farm (1995) 3rd ed.1990 மண்டல் அறிக்கையால் மாறும் அரசியல் (Maṇṭal aṟikkaiyāl māṟum araciyal)The Politics That's Changing due to Mandal Commission ReportViduthalaikuyilkal1992தடா தடா தடா : அடக்குமுறைச் சட்டங்களைத் துரத்தியடிப்போம் (Taṭā taṭā taṭā: Aṭakkumuṟaic caṭṭaṅkaḷait turattiyaṭippōm)TADA TADA TADA: Let's Chase Away Repressive LawsPolitical critique (co-authored with Ki. Venkatraman)அடக்குமுறைச்சட்ட எதிர்ப்புக் கூட்டியக்கம் (Aṭakkumuṟaiccaṭṭa etirppuk kūṭṭiyakkam)

[Coalition Against Repressive Laws]1994இந்த விதை முளைக்கும் (Inta vitai muḷaikkum)This Seed Will SproutNovelAadhi Pathippagam, Chennai2001 உடையும் சித்திரங்கள் (Uṭaiyum cittiraṅkaḷ)Breaking PaintingsPolitical critiqueTamil Mulakkam, Chennai2004 குடும்பமும் அரசியலும் (Kuṭumpamum araciyalum)Family and Politics2005 பெரியாரின் இடதுசாரித் தமிழ்த்தேசியம் (Periyāriṉ iṭatucārit tamiḻttēciyam)Periyar's Left-wing Tamil Nationalism2008அது ஒரு பொடா காலம் (Atu oru poṭā kālam)That Was A POTA PeriodAutobiographyVaanavil Puthakalayam, Chennai2012குறள்வானம் (அறத்துப்பால்) [Kuṟaḷvāṉam (aṟattuppāl)]Kural-sky ([a critique on] Book of Virtue)Proseகவிதா (Kavitā) –Novelவந்ததும் வாழ்வதும் (Vantatum vāḻvatum)(My) Arriving and LivingAutobiographyதிராவிடத்தால் எழுந்தோம் (Tirāviṭattāl eḻuntōm)We arose by DravidianismPolitical critiqueஒன்றே சொல் நன்றே சொல் (Oṉṟē col naṉṟē col)Say One Thing, Say It Good (in six volumes)2013ஈழம் தமிழகம் நான் : சில பதிவுகள் (Īḻam tamiḻakam nāṉ: Cila pativukaḷ)Eelam, Tamil Nadu, and I: Some ThoughtsSixthsense Publications, Chennaiஇளமை எனும் பூங்காற்று (Iḷamai eṉum pūṅkāṟṟu)Youthhood, the Flowery BreezeNakkheeran Publications, Chennaiசிங்களன் முதல் சங்கரன் வரை (Ciṅkaḷaṉ mutal caṅkaraṉ varai)From Sinhala to SankaraSixthsense Publications, Chennai2014அறிந்தும் அறியாமலும் (Aṟintum aṟiyāmalum)Knowingly and Unknowingly2015திராவிடம் வளர்த்த தமிழ் (Tirāviṭam vaḷartta tamiḻ)The Tamil that Dravidianism Nurturedதீட்டும் புனிதமும் (Tīṭṭum puṉitamum)Uncleanness and HolinessCollection of Speeches2017எதுவாக இருக்கும்? (Etuvāka irukkum?)What Could It Be?Poetryவலி (Vali)PainTravelogueகாற்றை கைது செய்து... : (மேடை இலக்கியம் ) (Kāṟṟai kaitu ceytu...) (Mēṭai ilakkiyam)Arresting the Wind.... (Stage Literature)Collection of Speeches2017(?)-21(?)ஒரு நிமிடம் ஒரு செய்தி (Oru nimiṭam oru ceyti)One Minute One Message (in four volumes)Political critiqueVaanavil Puthakalayam, Chennai Karunchattai Pathippagam2018இதுதான் ராமராஜ்யம் (Itutāṉ rāmarājyam)This is What Kingdom of Rama isPolitical critiqueDravida Iyakka Tamizhar Peravai 2021(?)நாயக்கர் காலம் ஓர் அறிமுகம் (Nāyakkar kālam ōr aṟimukam)The Nayaka Period: An IntroductionPolitical critiqueKarunchattai Pathippagam2021(?)மானுடம் திராவிடம் சமத்துவம் (பாகம் 1)

(Māṉuṭam tirāviṭam camattuvam (pākam 1)Humanism, Dravidianism and Equality (Part 1) [co-authored with Prof. Karunanandan, Kolathur Mani, Pollachi Ma Umapathy and Udayakumar]Political critique2021ஒரு நூற்றாண்டில் தமிழகம் கண்ட போராட்டங்கள் (Oru nūṟṟāṇṭil tamiḻakam kaṇṭa pōrāṭṭaṅkaḷ)The struggles faced by Tamil Nadu in a CenturyPolitical critiqueகருப்பும் காவியும் (Karuppum kāviyum)Black and SaffronPolitical critiqueதிராவிட இயக்கமும் இந்துக்களும் (Tirāviṭa iyakkamum intukkaḷum)Dravidian Movement and HindusPolitical critiqueவால்டேரும் ரூசோவும் (Vālṭērum rūcōvum)Voltaire and RousseauPolitical critiqueஸ்டீபன் ஹாக்கிங் பார்வையில் கடவுள் உண்டா? (Sṭīpaṉ hākkiṅ pārvaiyil kaṭavuḷ uṇṭā?)Is there God in Stephen Hawking's viewpoint?Philosophical Essaysநாங்கள் திராவிடக் கூட்டம் (Nāṅkaḷ tirāviṭak kūṭṭam)We Belong to Dravidian StockPolitical critiqueநீங்கள் எந்தப் பக்கம்? (Nīṅkaḷ entap pakkam?) Which Side Are You On?Political critiqueஇடைவேளை (Iṭaivēḷai)IntermissionNovelஎன் நாட் குறிப்பிலிருந்து... (Eṉ nāṭ kuṟippiliruntu...)From My DiaryTravelogueஈழம் காப்போம் (Īḻam kāppōm)Let's Save EelamPolitical critiqueதமிழகப் பண்பாட்டு வரலாறு (சுருக்கம்) (Tamiḻakap paṇpāṭṭu varalāṟu)History of Tamil Nadu's CulturePolitical critique

Radio, television and film career Right from his college years, Subavee began to write plays, inspired by (and imitating) Karunanidhi's style as seen in films like Raja Rani (1956). He also used to mono-act the exchange between Cheran Senguttuvan and his wife Venmal as found in the aforementioned film. His interest to work in the film industry was discouraged by his brother. Subavee appeared in an eight-minute speech programme titled ஒன்றே சொல் நன்றே சொல் (Say One Thing, Say It Good) in Kalaignar TV.

He also wrote lyrics for the song Achamenna Achamenna Aasai Thamizhey from the film Vengayam (2011) directed by Sankagiri Rajkumar.

When approached by director K. V. Anand for acting as a newspaper editor in Ko (2011), Subavee declined that role. Later, director Suseenthiran approached him for offering a role as a rebel leader in a film (unreleased as of 2021). Citing his socio-political commitment, Subavee declined that role as well.

When asked about his favourite actor, Subavee said that he once liked M. G. Ramachandran and that his present favourite was Suriya, whom he valued for the latter's "sense of social responsibility". He also commended Siddharth along the same lines.

Personal life Subavee married Vasantha (granddaughter of his aunt) on 8 February 1973. Their wedding was presided over by K. Rajaram, then minister in the second Karunanidhi ministry.

The couple has three children – Lenin (b.1974), Indhira (b.1978) and Bharatidasan (b.1980). Lenin was named after Subavee's eldest (deceased) brother who himself was named after Vladimir Lenin. Indhira was named after Subavee's second eldest sister (deceased). Bharatidasan got his name from the Tamil poet of the same name.

Lenin married Vijayalakshmi (daughter of Subavee's brother-in-law Ramasamy) at a wedding held at Hotel Palmgrove, Chennai in May 2000. The couple has a daughter named Oviya and a son named Kumaran.

Indhira married Suresh in December 2001. The couple has two sons – Naveen (b. 30 August 2002) and Nithin.

Bharatidasan married Vidya in September 2005. The couple has two sons named Shravan and Samaran.

Indhira's and Bharatidasan's were inter-caste marriages. All three weddings were presided over by Nedumaran. Karunanidhi also took part in Indhira's wedding.