#Caste

Madras High Court opens suo motu case to strip caste names from Tamil Nadu's streets

A Division Bench led by Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari has given the State four weeks to report which caste appellations on streets, roads and localities have been removed, and which still remain, nearly five decades after a 1978 order first demanded it.

1 October 2026 · 4 min read

A village sign board in Thanjavur district. Place names travel into every official document that carries an address.

Opinion

A street should not carry a caste

The High Court has done what successive governments promised in 1978 and never finished. The State's status report must be honest, public and followed by a deadline.

1 October 2026 · 2 min read

Leaders of the Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–25). E. V. Ramasamy, later known as Periyar, was imprisoned twice during the campaign.

History

From Vaikom to Kudi Arasu: how the Self-Respect Movement found the Justice Party

Periyar left the Congress in 1925 and led a movement that asked for more than jobs and seats. For a decade it worked alongside the Justice Party, and in the end it took the party over.

27 September 2026 · 2 min read