It is rumoured by DMK supporters that Periyar played a role in getting Rajaji’s widowed daughter Married to Gandhi’s son.
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Claim:
Raja Gopal’s(Rajaji) Daughter was one of the victims of child marriage. Though Rajaji was a governor general during british time itself he couldn’t resist that against his own community. Unfortunately the husband of the child expired. Rajaji’s daughter becomes a child widow at the age of 12 years old. Rajaji’s family shaved her head and isolated her inside her own house as per the latest #Sanatancustom at that time.(earlier it was #SATI) https://wedravidians.com/brutal-social-casual-murders-by-brahmins-sati/1916/… Periyar&Rajaji were contemporary politicians and good friends too though they opposed each other ideologically. After a few years of this tragedy Periyar visited Rajaji’s house and witnessed the pathetic situation of his daughter. He was very angry and scolded Rajaji. Called the little girl,talked to her and made her to be normal like others. Not only that, Periyar told this information to Gandhi and arranges for remarriage. As Gandhi and Rajaji are close friends, he tells his son Devdas Gandhi (who founded the Hindi Prachar Sabha) that he will marry Rajaji’s daughter. At that time Rajaji’s daughter was 15 years old and Devdas was 28 years old. After waiting for 5 years, Periyar gets them married. Gopala Krishna Gandhi is the son of their happy life. (Yes the one whom we nominated for President of India election) Through this incident you may understand that staunch followers like Rajaji of Sanatan needed Periyar’s revolution & help to fix the problems of their own houses. Today in the Brahmin society, remarriage & inter caste marriages are taking place in large numbers and it is because of this Periyar. #Periyarism #PeriyarForever Orininal: R.M.Babu Translated by : Kathir RS
Explanation:
We know that Rajaji and Periyar had opposite views politically, but as individuals they were good friends.
In this case, it is being shared that Rajaji’s daughter was married at a young age. The post claims that “she was widowed when she was 12, and her head was shaved and made to sit isolated inside her own house. Once when Periyar visited Rajaji’s house, he witnessed it and talked to Rajaji and also scolded him. Periyar told this information to Gandhi and arranged for remarriage. Since the girl was 15 years old at that time and the boy was 28 years old, they waited for 5 years and then Periyar got her married.”
This was initially posted by a professor named Sumathi and she later deleted it. But by the time she deleted it, the post became viral. Come, let’s check the authenticity of this claim.
What’s the truth?
A search for available information on the marriage of Rajaji’s daughter Lakshmi found no historical record of her marrying when she was young and her husband dying.
A historian named Rajmohan Gandhi has written a book about Rajaji called ‘Rajaji A Life’. It also contains details about the marriage of Rajaji’s daughter.
Rajaji and Gandhi were surprised that Devadas and Lakshmi fell in love and wanted to get married. During the time when Devdas Gandhi was teaching Hindi in Madras, Rajaji and him became good friends.
But Rajaji doesn’t know what to do when both say they love each other. And Devadas was not a Brahmin. Not only that, in 1927 Lakshmi was only fifteen years old. Caste was not a problem for Rajaji and Gandhi. They considered Lakshmi’s age.
They asked both to wait as a test of their love. They have also stipulated that they should not meet or write letters during that period. Obeying orders, both had to wait four years for parental permission and two years for marriage.
Rajaji wanted Lakshmi and Devdas to be married when Gandhi and Kasturba were finally out of jail. So he also wrote a letter to Kasthuribai regarding this.
Subsequently, on June 16, 1933, the marriage took place at Premlila Thackeray’s residence in Poona. It mentions that the marriage was very simple and Devadas’s brother was not even invited. Lakshmi’s age in 1927 is stated to be 15. That being said, she would have been 21 years old when she got married in 1933.
And in 2017, an article titled Magan thirumanathu ‘Tamilnaatin Sambandhi’ Gandhi vidhitha nibanthanai!was published by the Vikatan website. It also contains the above information.
The wedding photo of Devdas Gandhi and Lakshmi is also featured on the site ‘old indian photos’. In that, the year 1933 is mentioned.
There is no mention of Periyar in the book and Vikatan article in the sections on Lakshmi-Devadas marriage. Also, there is no record of Lakshmi’s first marriage and her husband’s death. From this we can know that the information spread is not true.
Conclusion:
In our search, it is true that Rajaji’s daughter Lakshmi and Gandhi’s son Devadas got married. They both fell in love with each other and got married.
In reality, the rumor that Lakshmi’s first marriage husband died when she was young and Periyar talked to Gandhi about it and later got he remarried to Devadas is completely false.
Links:
Rajaji: A Life By Rajmohan Gandhi
மகன் திருமணத்துக்கு ‘தமிழ்நாட்டின் சம்பந்தி’ காந்தி விதித்த நிபந்தனை!
