NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, SEP 17
BJP Tamil Nadu President L Murugan on Thursday hailed the contributions of rationalist E V Ramasamy “Periyar” to social justice and said he has no hesitation in extending its greetings on the occasion of the late leader’s 142nd birth anniversary.
“We extend our greetings to everyone. There is no second opinion that Periyar slogged for social justice. We have no hesitation in extending our greetings to him,” he told reporters here.
He was responding to a question on his party accusing the DMK for not greeting the people on “Ganesh Chaturthi” and why he has not extended his “greetings” on the anniversary of the late leader, who founded the Dravida Kazhagam, an ideological inspiration for the Dravidian parties, including the ruling AIADMK and the DMK.
Murugan’s remark assumes significance since this is the first time a BJP state unit chief has made a positive comment on Periyar, a rationalist, noted for his ideals aimed at uplifting the oppressed sections of society and self-respect movement.
While a number of senior BJP workers, who did not wish to be named viewed it as a “fresh thinking on social justice” that could help the party, others said Murugan’s comment must not be viewed as an “endorsement” of Periyar’s alleged anti-Hindu religious comments.
BJP spokesperson Narayanan Tiruptai said “We must not come to a conclusion that he has accepted the ideology of EV Ramasamy (EVR). It was not a statement but reply to the question of a journalist. His reply reflects the culture, refinement and civilised behaviour of BJP people.” Also, he said, anyone in public life be it RSS workers or the Communists, everyone worked to bring reforms in the society in “their own way.” In the same way, “EVR also worked” and Murugan’s answer does not mean an endorsement to the late leader’s ideology, he stressed.
“We have no animosity towards anyone,” Narayanan added. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, DMK president M K Stalin and a host of other leaders paid floral tributes to Periyar by garlanding his portrait on his birth anniversary at various locations in Chennai.
The BJP and its affiliates have often had verbal duels with Dravidian outfits over the ideology of Periyar (1879- 1973), a social reformer and a rationalist.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of events to celebrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, Murugan praised his party icon for his “stellar work,” a string of Centre’s welfare measures, and the proposed construction of a temple for Lord Ram at Ayodhya.
He said the Prime Minister honoured the sacrifices of party founder Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and fulfilled his dreams by removing Article 370 from the Constitution. To a question on the two-language formula adopted by the Tamil Nadu government, he said his party favoured learning any language and not just two. Parents, students and the general public were for learning not just one or two languages but more as per their requirement, he said.
