Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that Tamil Nadu is helping each other in Kerala’s problems and Kerala in Tamil Nadu’s problems, and that both states are putting forward a true example of cooperative federalism. The Chief Minister was speaking while presiding over the inauguration ceremony of the Thanthai Periyar Memorial and Periyar Library held at Vaikom Beach.
This is cooperation that is not limited to words but is reflected in action. At this stage when there is constant interference in the rights of states, including economic autonomy, this cooperation needs to be extended to more states, the Chief Minister said. We saw coexistence and cooperation beyond borders in the Vaikom Satyagraha. Kerala and Tamil Nadu are continuing that coexistence and cooperation. If Periyar stood for the self-respect of individuals, the times demand that states should stand for their self-respect. There is no doubt that Kerala and Tamil Nadu will take forward the kind of cooperation that the times demand.
The same spirit of cooperation is also evident in the renovation of the Periyar Memorial. The Chief Minister also said that both states should be able to strengthen it further in the coming times.
Periyar, also known as E. V. Ramaswamy Naikkar, is at the forefront of social reformers across India. Just as Sree Narayanan is respectfully called Guru by Keralites, E. V. R. is respectfully called Periyar by Tamils. Periyar played an important role in the Satyagraha held for the right to walk for the lower castes along the roads around the Vaikom Mahadeva temple. Periyar and other leaders saw the denial of freedom to walk as a problem not only for Malayalis, but as a problem for the entire people of the country. On April 13, 1924, Periyar took over the leadership of the Vaikom Satyagraha. With that, a huge crowd of people flocked to Vaikom. On the orders of the Travancore administration, he was arrested and sent to Arukutty jail. As soon as his wife Nagamma came to know about it, she went to Vaikom. She campaigned on the importance of the Satyagraha by involving women.
Periyar’s interventions to raise the age of marriage for women and to allow them to choose their own husbands and get divorce were historic. Nagamma was an equal partner in all such interventions by Periyar. That participation can be seen in Vaikom too. When Periyar, who was released from prison in Arukutty, became active in the Satyagraha again, the government ordered him to exile. When Periyar violated the order, the Travancore government imprisoned him again. Later, Periyar and other Satyagrahis were released on the occasion of the death of the king. In this way, Periyar provided a selfless and brilliant leadership to the Vaikom Satyagraha, the Chief Minister said.
