On Monday, when the Tamil Nadu BJP and its former IPS officer state president K. Annamalai were trying hard to brand the DMK as anti-Hindu for not allowing Vinayaka Chathurthi celebrations in the state, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin took the floor of the state assembly by storm when he announced that September 17, the brith anniversary of Periyar, will be observed as a day of social justice every year.
Making the announcement under Rule 110 in the assembly, Stalin hailed the legendary social reformer Periyar E.V. Ramasamy. Calling Periyar the pillar of social reforms and the Dravidian movement, Stalin said that Periyar’s ideology was all about social justice, self-respect, rationalism and equality, which laid the foundation stone for the Tamil society’s growth during the last century.
“Periyar launched the self-respect movement to ensure that people from all sections of the society live with dignity. The protests that he spearheaded can never be replicated by others. The words that came out of his mouth are those others were scared to utter. If I keep talking about him, I can go on for ten days,” Stalin told the assembly.
Stalin’s announcement in the assembly was welcomed by all political parties including the BJP. His announcement is looked at as one that is a step ahead of his father M. Karunanidhi’s ideals. In fact, when Stalin’s critics said that he would not be able to withstand the ideological onslaught by the BJP in the Centre, the chief minister has once again reiterated that he will continue to hold the Dravidian roots.
Apparently, the whole of DMK resurgence in the last few years, after the death of Karunanidhi, revolves around the image and the message of Periyar. “He wants to reaffirm Periyar's ideals and, more importantly, this has been a great rallying point in the last few years. This has singularly been the most influential factor in response to BJP’s coming into TN politics. They want to make more out of the transition now,” said professor Ramu Manivannan.
For people of Tamil Nadu, Periyar is an ideological force and an icon of social justice, who talked caste equality and gender equality and worked hard towards abolition of slavery of women. “The message is a reason to mobilise the masses,” Manivannan points out. “And then the fact that chief minister also came out for a memorial of Iyothee Thass Pandithar, another advocate of the social justice, makes clear the core of DMK's ideological opposition to the BJP.”
