DMK Philosophy

When Arignar Anna first announced the formation of the DMK on 17th September 1949, the party's ideology was almost similar to that of its parent organization Dravida Kazhagam (DK). While it had adopted some of the benevolent motives, such as protection of the Tamil language and culture, and atheism among others, the party had already determined to contest the election unlike its predecessor DK. DMK strongly believed that it is possible to reform the state only by contesting the elections. DMK also dropped the demand for a separate state 'Dravida Nadu' and started strengthening the hands of Indian government after the Chinese aggression in 1962.

Although Anna was an atheist when he began his career as politician, he later became a believer of One God. His popular slogan "Onre Kulam Orvane Devan" inspired people from all religious background to respect one another. However, Anna's successor Kalaignar continues to follow atheism and the party on the whole is highly secular.

DMK has been the defender of Tamil language and culture. Right from its debut, DMK has been opposing the idea of making Hindi as the national language. DMK's Anti-Hindi agitations have had a positive impact on the state. DMK has also conducted several World Tamil Conferences to enhance the growth of the language.

DMK follows democracy, when it comes to electing its leaders within the party. Every party member has to prove himself/herself worthy of the position and get elected by the party cadres for the position.