Periyar was Kannadiga/Telugu Naikar, not Tamil. He used the divide and rule method of British and divided the tamils in the name of caste. Mainly he wanted turn the uneducated low caste people against educated Brahmins, so that the Brahmins will leave the state and non-tamils can rule the Tamilnadu. He was able achieve it, most the Brahmins went to Delhi, Mumbai & other states and now most of the leaders in Tamilnadu are not tamils.
He said no god and broke Hindu statues and temples, but did not say a single word against Christianity or Islam.
He also tried to divide India.
The current state of cast based Tamilnadu politics is because of him. It is unfortunate that Tamilnadu went behind these kind of leaders instead of Rajaji, Kamaraj, etc.
