History of Social Justice in Tamil Society.

Tamil Society has gradually moved on the path of social justice from its historical annals until the current day. Education is a crucial aspect of any development. Gender Equality was articulated extensively from the 20th century. From the activities of colonial systems in the Tamil society during the 19th Century, we can understand how the European Enlightenment tradition identified the unequal development of feudal societies that came under colonization.

Religions that were influenced by the colonial, enlightenment traditions began to approach social justice differently. As a by-product, many social movements evolved devoid of religious affiliations and recorded how religions worked against social justice. This paper attempts to explore that interesting history and also the contribution of the Dravidian Movement to instill Social Justice in the social fabric of the current day Tamil Society.

Prof. Dr. Vee. Arasu, University of Madras (Chennai)

Dr. Vee. Arasu is a retired Professor who served at the Department of Tamil Literature, University of Madras for 29 years. During his service, he was the Prof. & Head of the same for 16 years and also was a member of the Syndicate, Senate and Academic Council for over 14 years. Arasu has been a member of Board of Studies in almost all the Universities of Tamil Nadu for over 20 years. He has functioned as an academician all his life.

He led the Curriculum Redesign Committee of the Eastern University, Sri Lanka and University of Malaysia. He served as the Visiting Professor and External Examiner at the Univ. of Malaysia for three consecutive years. He has delivered Endowment Lectures at various universities in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.

49 Scholars have completed their Ph.D. under his guidance. He has published 4 volumes of selected articles. He has over 30 monographs on different aspects of Tamil society and culture to his credit. He has edited over 70 volumes on many authors, subjects and fields. Va. Vu. Si, Jeevan, Madras Secular Society, Mayilai Seeni Venkatasami, Athippakkam Venkatachalanar and Puthumaippithan are some of the edited volumes that deserve mention. He has served on the advisory committees of Sahitya Akademi, National Book Trust, National Mission for Manuscripts and other committees within the state and abroad. There are over 70 lectures of Arasu online.

Arasu's primary field of study is the social history of the Tamils. He has undertaken many studies on Tamil classical and modern literatures. He has paid special attention to 19th century social context, especially in the light of print culture. Many of his students continue the traditions set by him. He has travelled to Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Czech Republic, Paris, London and Canada for academic purposes. Arasu is happy and proud to have created a vibrant generation of student-scholars.