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The 140th Birthday of Thanthai Periyar (E.V.Ramasamy, 1879-1973) is being celebrated starting from September 17, 2018. Birthday celebrations by Periyar Movement are not meant for mere jubilation but for stock taking the social achievements during the past, articulating to face the challenges ahead and to remove the hurdles that remain both in implicit and explicit forms. Periyar fought throughout his 95 years for the cause of equality of humans. He struggled to create equal opportunities to everyone by quelling the birth based discriminations that resulted in graded inequalities, designed by the exploiting cult to enslave the toiling major sections of the society.
The continuing struggle commenced by Thanthai Periyar has been witnessing the benefitted, almost, 6th generation. The level of benefits has ascended in every successive generation. Birth day celebration of Periyar every year is nothing but gauging the success of Periyar Mission and get prepared to face the continuing and the new challenges created by the exploiting forces who still remain privileged in the name of god and religion.
During the year Periyar 139 (September 2017- September 2018), notable achievements have taken place to translate the philosophy of Periyar into practice by the State as well as the continuing struggles for social justice. First appointment of non-brahmin archakar (temple priest), duly trained in agamas has been made by the Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment, Government of Tamil Nadu. This historic achievement ensuring equality in the sanctum sanctorum of temples that Periyar planned to launch the agitation for this achievement in 1969, even advocating it earlier, that has seen the light of day in February 2018 in a temple at Madurai.
Social justice is the pivot of Periyar Movement. The mode to attain it has been designed in a Model of 69 per cent reservation for the Backward Classes, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. The 24 year, time tested ‘The Tamil Nadu Model’ has been challenged by the privileged in the apex Court, despite the ‘model’ being put in IX Schedule of the Indian Constitution, that is immune to judicial scrutiny.
Still the final verdict of the judicial scrutiny is about to come despite the pronouncement of the ‘The Tamil Nadu Model’ valid by the Supreme Court long before.
‘Discriminate, divide the people and keep them enslaved’ has been the core of the ‘divine’ design of the society in this land for more than two millenniums. Still the design has been continuing in the form of new avatars like NEET on higher education front, Sanskritisation to belittle the rest of the Regional languages of the land, weakening the federal fervour of Indian polity by patronizing one nation theory, putting hurdles for the secular functioning of the State by providing undue preference to Hindu religion by the rulers of the country.
Periyar Movement is well aware of all these hurdles and challenges and committed to continue its ‘Mission’ to make the ignorant and gullible masses aware of their enslavement and denial of basic human rights to them. The Mission reassures its mobilizing the enslaved masses at State and all India levels and sustain the struggle vigorously to make the rulers implement the progressive measures. Whether the rulers accept them or not, mobilizing the public opinion is the main task of Periyar Mission. In ‘Periyar 140’, the Mission reassures the cause and gets prepared to struggle vigorously and suffer for the dawn of ‘Humankind’, where ‘All is Meant for All’, eliminating the denial of basic and essential human rights.
