Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday that Kerala and Tamil Nadu put forward a model of coexistence and cooperation that should spread through other states as well.
The Kerala CM was delivering an address at the Thanthai Periyar Memorial and Periyar Library at Vaikom, which was inaugurated Thursday by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin in the presence of ministers and senior officials from Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Dravida Kazhagam president K Veeramani was the chief guest.
The event also marked the centenary celebration of Vaikom Satyagraha, a watershed movement for social justice and caste equality that took place at Vaikom, in Kerala’s Kottayam district, in 1924-25. Tamil cultural icon and social reformer Periyar E V Ramasamy had participated in the movement.
Vijayan said this spirit of cooperative federalism should spread through states at a time when the rights of states, including their financial autonomy, “are being repeatedly infringed upon”.
“At the Vaikom Satyagraha, we had seen this cooperation and coexistence. Both Kerala and Tamil Nadu are taking forward that cooperation and coexistence. Periyar stood for the self-respect of individuals, and now, the states should stand for their self-respect. There is no doubt that Kerala and Tamil Nadu will carry forward the cooperation that the present day demands. This cooperation between the states is not limited to words but is reflected in deeds. This approach was evident in the renovation of the Periyar memorial. Other states also should be able to strengthen this cooperative federalism,” Vijayan said.
The Kerala CM said Periyar was among the foremost social reformers in India, and that he had played an important role in the satyagraha held for the right of people from lower castes to walk along the roads around the Vaikom Mahadeva temple. Periyar hadn’t seen it as an issue of Kerala alone, but considered it a matter affecting the people of the country, Vijayan said.
Kerala Cooperation Minister V N Vasavan, Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian, Tamil Nadu Irrigation Minister Durai Murugan, Public Works Minister A V Velu, Information Minister M P Swaminathan, Kottayam MP K Francis George, Vaikom MLA C K Asha, Kerala Chief Secretary Saradha Muraleedharan, and Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary N Murukanandam also addressed the function.
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