On his Punyatithi, remembering a Dravida Voice who at one time was parallel to Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, & gradually erased from history for his Pro – Hinduism Stand by Left Historians & Congis alike.
Diwan Bahadur #MylaiChinnaThambiRajah

"The Congress, under the inspiration of

Gandhi, has taken up the question of removal of Untouchability and the Hindu Mahasabha has followed suit. It is our duty to help them in their endeavor and not to throw obstacles in their way.
Hinduism is our religion and it is sacred to us. It is our duty to preserve it and

purify it. We do not want to cut away from the Hindu fold. We want better recognition - a recognition of the fact that we are men equally with the caste-Hindus.
M.C. Rajah, source quoted by Jaffrelot in Dr. Ambedkar and Untouchability: Fighting the Indian Caste System, p. 128

Rajah was born to Mylai Chinna Thambi Pillai on 17-06-1883 at St Thomas Mount, Madras for Chinna Thambi Pillai, a manager of Lawrence Asylum.Rajah had his schooling at the Wesley Mission HS & Wesley College.He graduated from Madras Christian College & worked as a school Teacher

and then Professor.
Rajah entered politics at early age and In 1916, he became the Secretary of the Adi-Dravida Mahajana Sabha.
1st general elections held in November 1920.He was elected Deputy Leader of the Justice Party in the house. Rajah was the 1st member of SC community to

be elected to the Madras Legislative Council.
(Dictionary of National Biography by KP Sen)
But he left the party in 1923 over the treatment of Dalits and allied with Dr BR Ambedkar.
In 1932, M. C. Rajah concluded a pact with two members of the Congress, B. S. Moonje and Jadhav.

According to this pact, Moonje offered reserved seats to scheduled castes in return for Rajah's support.
At 1 point Rajah was considered to be a person equal in stature to Ambedkar. Rajah, along with Ambedkar and Rettamalai Srinivasan, represented the Dalits at the Second Round

Table Conference in London.
During late 1935, Rajah chose to not support Dr Ambedkar’s decision to leave Hinduism. Rajah, felt that conversion from Hinduism would weaken the determination of the Dalit Hindu social reformers involved in fighting caste anomalies.
OTOH B S Moonje

was a freedom fighter. He was a follower of Lokmanya Tilak. He was the general secretary of Central Indian Provincial Congress for many years.
After the demise of Tilak in 1920, Moonje separated from Congress and took up the leadership of the Hindu Mahasabha until he handed over

the charge to Veer Savarkar in 1937. Moonje founded many social institutions including schools,gymnasiums, and hostels for Dalit children. The Bhonsala Military School in Nashik was started by him to provide military training to young Hindus irrespective of caste.
Rajah-Moonje

Pact (R-MP)saw through the British ploy to perpetuate minorities in India for their own political ends, and batted for joint electorates to achieve social integration.
The pact served as a model for the scheduled communities not to compromise on justice nor fall prey to the

divide and rule policy of the British.
It is one of the least read pages in the history of social emancipation in India. It provided a model for walking a path that would not compromise on justice nor would fall prey to the divide and rule policy created by the British.
It is a

historical fact today that R-MP was the first-ever agreement on reservation between the so-called Caste Hindus and the SCs. Later, M C Rajah pointed out the significance of the pact as the one between ‘the only central organisation of the depressed classes’ and the ‘organised

body of Hindus taken as a whole’.
He also hailed the ‘hand of fraternity’ extended by ‘our co-religionists, the Caste Hindus’. At the heart of the problem was the issue of joint or separate electorates for the so-called depressed classes.
Rajah further argued in favour of the

joint electorates with reservation for SCs from the point of view of a healthy democracy and social empowerment:
‘I do not know why the British PM calls the scheme of joint electorates with reservation of seats as impracticable. It is already in force in local bodies in Madras

and some other provinces and has worked very satisfactorily. ... I am surprised at the argument of the Prime Minister that there is no segregation because we can vote for Caste Hindus who will have to solicit our votes. But, Sir, how can we bring about a common ideal of

citizenship when Depressed Class representatives are not to solicit the votes of (so-called) higher castes?”
Then he went on to argue the need for reforming the Hindu society from within and not by alienating them through separate electorates:
“We Depressed Classes, feel

ourselves as true Hindus as any Caste Hindu can be and we feel that the moral conscience of the Hindus have been roused to the extent that our salvation lies in bringing about a change from within the main body of Hindu society and not segregating ourselves from them.”
British

were over-concerned about the R-MP, and secretary of state for India from London asked the viceroy if he could send ‘any estimates’ regarding ‘the extent to which the pact is likely to receive general acceptance by the interests involved.’
The Tribune from Lahore in its issue

dated 25 March1932 hailed the pact as ‘the best solution’ and it wrote:
“If only the other minorities in India had the same wisdom, clear-headedness & sagacity that Mr Rajah and his Association possess they would have come to exactly the same conclusion to which the latter have

come. If the depressed classes are socially an integral part of the Hindu community, the Muslims and other non-Hindu Minorities are politically an equally integral part of the Indian nation...”
The Statesman dated 30 March1932, reported that in New Delhi All India Shradhanand

Dalit-Uddhar Sabha took out a procession in support of the pact. They raised the ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ slogan and carried banners that declared ‘We are Hindus of Hindus.’ When the Pune Pact was signed between Gandhi and Dr Ambedkar, Rajah gave his full support to the pact without

any ego though it was mostly a replica of R-MP.

The below link will give more details than the thread hereafter,

https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/182293/7/chapter%204.pdf

M C Rajah started a school at Nungambakkam and many night schools in the Madras. He was also responsible for helping Dalits students to

get admission in Pachaiyappa’s College, Madras. Through out his life he served the Dalits and their cause.
He succeeded in persuading Paddison, the first Labour Commissioner to preside over the Adi Dravida Mahajana Conference at Chidambaram where he along with Swami Sahajananda

enlightened Paddison about the problems of the Dalits.
He was one of the Labour Union leaders who espoused the cause of Dalits workers in the textile mills. From 1917 he worked for upliftment of Dalits in different ways, the most important of which being the Temple entry for

which he worked on the floor of the House as well as from the public platform. He began his political activities from 1920. He was a member of the Madras Legislature as well as of the Imperial Legislature. In politics, he believed in the motto that ‘Politics was for the people

and not people for politics’. M.C.Rajah was a prominent Dalit leader of South India emerged even before the rise of B.R.Ambedkar as national leader.
When Gandhi called the Depressed Class as ‘Harijans’, it was M.C.Rajah who directly quarreled against Gandhi, & refused to accept

the term 'Harijan'. When Gandhi claimed that he was the only champion to safeguard the rights of Harijans, Both M.C.Rajah and B.R.Ambedkar were the front rank leaders of India who laid firm foundation for the elevation of Depressed Classes in India. With RMPact, ties between

M C Rajah and Bhim Rao Ambedkar got severed, sensing opportunity E V Ramaswamy Naiker’s (Periyar) supported Dr Ambedkar who asked Depressed Classes to be on watch & not trust Congress, Gandhi, M C Rajah.
In 1932, the All India Depressed Classes Conference was held near Nagpur,

more than 15,000 delegates from all over India attended the Congress. Some of the supporters of the Rajah-Moonje pact also attended the Congress.
Raj Bhoj who favoured 'Rajah-Moonje Pact' & who became afterwards the General Secretary, All India Scheduled Caste Federation led by

Ambedkar was attacked by the delegates when he began to support the 'Rajah-Moonje Pact.' He was rescued by the magistrate and admitted in the Hospital. Such was the objection to the Rajah-Moonje Pact by the Depressed Class Leaders.
Both M.C.Rajah and Dr.Ambedkar aimed at the

uplift of the Depressed Classes but their attempts were some what differed but their goal was the same. Therefore M.C.Rajah as a legislator, and social leader, social reformer, educationist and champion of the downtrodden was the forerunner of B.R. Ambedkar. His early attempt

at saving his people for a right direction helped Ambedkar to guide the depressed classes very easily to a right political goal. M.C.Rajah as a 'Morning Star' shined and shined alone in the Political Heaven of South India and guided his people to the goal of progress in their

socio-economic-educational, religious and political careers.
All said and done, with immense grief I say, Congress, Gandhi, C Rajagopalachary who headed Tamil Nadu Congress then BETRAYED M C Rajah,
Rajah introduced Temple Entry Bill, When the debates were going on in the Madras

Legislative Assembly, all the Depressed Class members joined the Congress and voted solidly against the Bill. The Bill was drafted by C.Rajagopalachari and approved and blessed by Gandhi but all the members under Rajagopalachari opposed the Bill. On another occasion on 12th July

1938, M.C.Rajah introduced a similar Bill and it was also withdrawn by the direction of Rajagopalachari.78 Thus, at the end M.C.Rajah realized his fault and regretted to Gandhi through his letter; for his letter Gandhi replied on 14th September 1938 that C.Rajagopalachari was

the real friend of the Depressed Classes and they would trust him. At the end as per the direction of Gandhi, and after the Poona Pact Rajagopalachari passed the ' Malabar Temple Entry Bill' and earned a good name for Congress.79 Thus, the Self effort and self respect of

M.C.Rajah was jeopardized & tarnished.
Please note that Rajah complained against Cong & Gandhi, Rajagopalachari but nothing was said against Hindu Maha Sabha.
M C Rajah died on Tuesday, 24 August 1943, at his house on "St. Thomas Mount", today named as "Rajah Street".

This below link is from #National Herald, the @INCIndia Mouth Piece. Do read how they defend Moonje pact. https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/when-gandhi-and-ambedkar-came-together-to-settle-the-dalit-question