V V S Aiyar - Revolutionary Lawyer from South India

VVS Aiyar - Varahaneri Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar
 

VVS Aiyar was born on April 2, 1881 in a middle class Brahmin family in the suburb of Varahaneri in Tiruchi of today's Tamilnadu. After his early education, he studied in St. Joseph's College and took his B.A in History, Politics, and Latin. He studied for the Law profession and passed the Pleader (junior lawyer) examination from the Madras University in 1902. He then practiced as the pleader in the District courts of Tiruchi. Aiyar then moved to Rangoon in 1906 and started practicing as a junior in the Chambers of an English Barrister. From Rangoon, he left for London in 1907 and enrolled in Lincoln's Inn aiming to becoming a Barrister at Law. Soon in London, V.V.S. Aiyar came into contact with active members of India House an informal Indian Nationalist Organization. Under the influence of revolutionaries of India House, Aiyar began to take an active role in the struggle for Indian independence.

Being in close circle of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, VVS himself being an efficient lawyer involved himself in the political activism for India’s liberation influencing the young students in Britain. Literature and Arms training were at its best during the period of 1906 and 1909 in the backyard of India House. Weekly meetings organised by Savarkar pulled in many young people along with the notice of Police and Intelligence agencies of London.

VVS Aiyar was the first to make a note of information leaking through the agents of British staying inside the India house and soon he managed to shield the key leaders of India House. He used to counsel the students of house and had maintained a strong relationship with them. When Madan Lal Dhingra assassinated Sir Curzon Willey a field assistant for Secretary of State for India in 1909, India House was put on the red scanner and quickly political pressure were mounted on residents of house to leave Britain.

During the trials of Madan Lal Dhingra, VVS Ayiar was notified as a Literate who had sedition in his writings and was considered to be an anarchist. British issued a arrest warrant on his name, but he was quick enough to learn from his intelligence sources inside the London Police on this and he left London to stay in Paris in Political exile resigning from Lincoln's Inn. 

He could not stay in political exile for longer time since he was more than a activist. He arrived in Pondicherry disguised as a muslim in 1910 and stayed there for more than 10 yrs. His friends circle grew bigger during this time by contacts such as Subramaniam Bharati, Chidambaram Pillai and Sri Aurobindo.

He began his literature work in Pondicherry along the side of his revolutionary activities. In July 1911 a plot to assassin Robert William Escourt Ashe the then collector of Thirunelveli Dist. for the reason he had suppressed the disturbance of 1908 with utmost brutality through his acts of omissions and commissions was made and executed under the guidance and planning of VVS.

Vanchinathan who attained martyrdom after the assassination of Ashe had given sleepless nights to the British Raj in South India and made VVS Ayiar to come into the search light of British once again. He was issued with a arrest warrant through French authorities who were controlling Pondicherry then. He managed to stay free since no strong evidences were found against him.

During the world war I in sept. 1914, a German cruiser SMS Emden entered the port and bombed the city of Madras. The British soon bought the blame on the exiles residing in Pondicherry in connection with Indo-German conspiracy and ordered the French authorities to deport VVS to Africa. The French failed to convict him yet once again.

During his stay in Pondicherry, VVS translated the famous “Thirukural” a writing of famous poet Thiruvalluvar to English. 

By the end of First World War, he moved to Madras to function as an editor of journal “Deshabhaktan”. He was arrested in 1921 and prisoned for 9 months for his fierceful writing which British considered to be sedition. 

VVS Aiyar drowned in the Papanasam Falls in June 1925 at the age of 44 in circumstances which remain controversial. Nevertheless he is considered to be one of the most respected revolutionary from South India.