Who among the following started the Self-Respect Movement in 1925?

The correct option is E.V. Ramasami Naicker.

Here is the step-by-step explanation of why this option is correct:

1. Historical Context of the Movement:
The Self-Respect Movement (also known as the Suyamariyadhai Iyakkam) was a dynamic socio-political movement aimed at creating a society where backward castes have equal human rights. It focused on encouraging backward castes to have self-respect in a caste-based society that considered them to be at the bottom of the hierarchy.

2. Founder of the Movement:
The movement was started by E.V. Ramasami Naicker (popularly known as Periyar, meaning 'respected one' or 'elder') in the year 1925 in Tamil Nadu, India. He was a prominent social activist and politician who fought against Brahmanical dominance, gender inequality, and the caste system.

3. Key Objectives:
The primary goals of the Self-Respect Movement included:
• Eliminating the caste system and untouchability.
• Promoting gender equality, women's rights, and widow remarriage.
• Establishing self-respect marriages (marriages performed without Brahmin priests and religious rituals).
• Advocating for rationalism and the eradication of superstitious beliefs.

4. Analyzing Other Options:
• Kashiram: He was a 20th-century politician and social reformer who founded the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 1984, which is unrelated to the 1925 Self-Respect Movement.
• B. R. Ambedkar: While he was a monumental leader in fighting caste discrimination and the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, he led movements like the Mahad Satyagraha (1927) and founded organizations like the Scheduled Castes Federation, rather than the Self-Respect Movement.
• Jyotiba Phule: A pioneering social reformer in Maharashtra, he started the Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873 to secure social justice for underprivileged classes, which predates the Self-Respect Movement.

Therefore, E.V. Ramasami Naicker is the leader who initiated this movement in 1925.