The collaboration between Kerala and Tamil Nadu is a testomony to cooperative federalism, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan mentioned on Thursday, voicing the necessity to develop it to different states within the backdrop of “frequent interventions on the rights of states”.
“This cooperation can’t be expressed in mere phrases. It’s demonstrated by way of actions,” Vijayan mentioned at a public assembly at Vaikom Seaside in Kottayam district.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin underlined the shared imaginative and prescient of each states to create an egalitarian society, promising to deepen cooperation within the years to come back.
Vijayan’s remarks got here after he and Stalin collectively inaugurated the Thanthai Periyar renovated memorial and library established in honour of social reformer EV Ramasamy as a part of the conclusion of the Vaikom Satyagraha centenary celebrations. The satyagraha in 1924-25, wherein Periyar had performed a key position, was a mass motion demanding rights for the folks of decrease castes to entry roads resulting in and surrounding the well-known Vaikom Mahadeva temple.
“If Periyar championed the self-respect of people, the current instances demand that states stand for his or her self-respect,” mentioned Vijayan.
He underlined that Periyar, alongside leaders from Kerala like KP Kesava Menon and Barrister George Joseph, noticed the Vaikom Satyagraha as a nationwide problem, slightly than a regional problem, to ship a message in opposition to untouchability.
In his deal with, which chief minister and DMK chief MK Stalin began in Malayalam, he listed the contributions of Periyar and different leaders from Tamil Nadu to creating the Vaikom Satyagraha successful.
“The satyagraha is an instance that solely correct coordination in social reform initiatives will yield fruit…folks should proceed to agitate in opposition to variations based mostly on caste, monetary standing and intercourse,” he exhorted.
Earlier, each leaders marked the inauguration of the renovated memorial devoted to Periyar which has a museum consisting of work, pictures and different gadgets associated to the lifetime of the social reformer and a library stacked with books and accessible to the general public. Final 12 months, whereas visiting Kerala for the centenary celebrations, the Tamil Nadu authorities had allotted ₹8.14 crore for the renovation of the memorial.
