TN, Kerala CMs jointly inaugurate centenary celebrations of Vaikom Satyagraha

All this only serves to bring old social evils back into the society, Vijayan said.Stalin, who began his speech in Malayalam, said the historic Vaikom struggle for social justice and against untouchability was the nations pioneering movement that inspired the whole country.The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister recalled the revolutionary movements of Kerala and Tamil Nadu and listed legendary leaders including Sri Narayana Guru, Ayyan Kali, TK Madhavan, Ramalinga Adigalar, Ayya Vaikundar, Ayothidasar, and Periyar.At a time when casteist and communal Sanathana Varnasrama forces are thinking of domineering again...

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin on Saturday jointly inaugurated the centenary celebrations of the Vaikom Satyagraha here and said the values of the historic struggle will provide energy to meet the challenges faced by the country today.

The historic Vaikom struggle (1924-25) was against untouchability and it demanded that the ban be lifted on the oppressed people to walk on roads in and around the Mahadeva Temple at Vaikom town in Kottayam district of Kerala.

Addressing a massive gathering at Vaikom at an event organised by the Kerala government, Vijayan urged the people to draw values from the Vaikom Satyagraha and to fight back the efforts being made to take the society back to the old social condition with caste discrimination and other social evils.

''Our national movement upheld the values of secularism and it is one of the cornerstones of our Constitution. But these days, attempts are being made to declare India a religious state by rejecting our Constitution. There are attempts to replace our Constitution with Manusmriti. All this only serves to bring old social evils back into the society,'' Vijayan said.

Stalin, who began his speech in Malayalam, said the historic Vaikom struggle for social justice and against untouchability was the nation's pioneering movement that inspired the whole country.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister recalled the revolutionary movements of Kerala and Tamil Nadu and listed legendary leaders including Sri Narayana Guru, Ayyan Kali, TK Madhavan, Ramalinga Adigalar, Ayya Vaikundar, Ayothidasar, and Periyar.

''At a time when casteist and communal Sanathana/ Varnasrama forces are thinking of domineering again... we have this duty more and in this mission, Periyar the beacon, would be useful...the Vaikom struggle is the beacon light and similar to the unity seen a century ago, let us work together,'' Stalin said.

Tracing the epic Vaikom movement, he said Periyar led the protest as all the Kerala leaders were arrested. He mobilised people and created awareness among them and he was jailed. Though other participants of the struggle were treated as political prisoners, Periyar was treated badly and he was shackled and imprisoned for 74 days and he devoted 141 days for the Vaikom satyagraha. Periyar belongs to the whole world and his ideology is common to all the people and the entire world, Stalin said. The TN Chief Minister said all have to work hard together for the ideology of Periyar to win. Both the Tamil Nadu and Kerala governments have to disseminate the struggle movement witnessed all along to the younger generation. At a time when casteist and communal Sanathana/Varnasrama forces are thinking at domineering again, ''we have this duty more'' and in this mission, Periyar the beacon, would be useful, he said. Vaikom struggle is the beacon light and similar to the unity seen a century ago, ''let us work together,'' he said. The centenary event was held at Vaikom about 29 km from Kottayam. When he led the Vaikom movement Periyar was the chief of Tamil Nadu Congress. Meanwhile, Vijayan said the festivities will last 603 days, marked by programmes reminiscent of the historic struggle, a landmark in Kerala's renaissance movement.

The Left leader said the Vaikom Satyagraha was something which both Tamil Nadu and Kerala can never forget.

He said people and renaissance leaders from both the states came together and fought the social evil giving inspiration to the national movement.

Vijayan pointed out that even Mahatma Gandhi, who came to Vaikom to hold discussion related to the struggle, was not allowed inside the Indamthuruthy Mana.

Gandhi, because of being a non-Brahmin, was denied entry to the Mana, which was the mansion of a leader of the caste Hindu camp, during the hours-long discussion in connection with the Vaikom satyagraha in 1925. The CPI purchased the Mana, a traditional Brahmin Kerala house in 1964 and renovated it in 2019. Currently, it functions as the toddy-tappers union office of Vaikom.

''That Mana is now functioning as an office of a progressive labour union. This shows that history ultimately progresses in a progressive manner,'' Vijayan said.

The chief ministers of the southern states offered floral tributes to the Vaikom Satyagraha leaders before the public meeting. Vijayan and Stalin together released the work of noted scholar Pazha Adiyaman's Tamil work ''Vaikom Porattam'' in Malayalam.

Earlier, Stalin had announced in the Tamil Nadu state Assembly about instituting a ''Vaikom Award'' to honour those who work outside of Tamil Nadu for the welfare of the oppressed people and bring a remarkable change. He had also announced that Rs 8.14 crore will be set apart for revamping the Periyar memorial at Vaikom.

The Vaikom struggle led by social reformer T K Madhavan began on March 30, 1924 and ended on November 23, 1925 and an event to mark the victory of the satyagraha movement was chaired by Periyar on November 29, 1925 at Vaikom.

The leaders of the then Congress party were jailed for spearheading the movement and Periyar led the struggle.

Periyar's first incarceration was at Aruvikutti for a month and the second time he was lodged in a Thiruvananthapuram prison after he was sentenced to four months rigorous imprisonment.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)