Respectful Michael Selvanayagam
Deputy Mayor, London Borough of Croydon, England
I am not an expert on Periyarism to the core; but I have met Periyar twice in my life time. I was attracted very much by his honesty, sincerity and telling the people truth without any fear.
He was a man and vanguard leader. His weapon for defence was reading, writing and speaking everyday and everywhere. Thanthai Periyar was the first and foremost humanist whoever stood in the way of good human living and happiness, he fought against it. That made him to confront the well established social order and hierarchy. It is wonder how a person brought up in a very rich and strict religious environment felt the pain of the common man. Many reported that after Periyar the movement would die. They were terribly disappointed. Annai Maniammai and the living legend Dr.K.Veeramani, President, Dravidar Kazhagam, gave everything for the movement and ideology to grow worldwide.
The ideology of Periyar is alive and well and growing worldwide. So many educational institutions were established primarily to help women from cradle to Ph.Ds in Engineering and Pharmacy and other fields. Today the women educated in Periyar Educational Institutions are all over the world, in United Kingdom, United State of America, Singapore, Australia and other countries. They not only came out with a degree but a well balanced view of the world and courage and conditions in their hearts. Most of the developments happened after Periyar and after Maniammai. Their dreams were fulfilled multi fold!
Today we are embarking on the new world. The world is getting smaller and the social media with what Periyar predicted a long time ago is the cell phone that everyone has. It is our duty to spread the gospel of Periyar to one and all around the world to live with equality, justice and happiness. Let this conference be the first step and let us all carry the torch forward!
