The streets of Tamil Nadu were filled with a sea of red on Sunday, May 29, as hundreds of members and supporters of Dravidian, Ambedkarite and Marxist groups carried out a ‘red shirt’ protest against the BJP and its ideologies. The rally was organised by the Periyar Unarvalargal Kootamaippu in association with the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Dravidar Kazhagam, and was inaugurated by Madurai MP Su Venkatesan. Among its participants were veteran CPI leader R Nallakannu, CPI(M) state committee secretary K Balakrishnan, CPI(M) Tamil Nadu unit secretary R Mutharasan, MP and President of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Thol. Thirumavalavan and Coimbatore Ramakrishnan.
The people marched from Kalavasal to Pazhanganatham in Madurai, and raised slogans against the BJP and PM Modi’s schemes, including that of ‘one nation, one language’. During the rally, Ambedkarites, Periyarists and Marxists also spoke out against the Union government’s neoliberal policies, and passed a resolution demanding that the government pay royalty for using Tamil Nadu’s mineral resources.
Speaking at the event, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalan said, as per The New Indian Express, “Constitutional rights exist only during elections. Once polls are over, BJP rules the nation based on Manusmriti. We must fight RSS ideology and must never allow them to rule us.” He also said that Periyarists, Ambedkarites and Marxists must come together to “create equality among the people”.
Those who participated in the rally also raised slogans for Tamil Nadu’s exemption from NEET, and demanded the government to not sell public sector undertakings (PSUs) and to stop “corporatising” the agriculture sector. At the end of the rally, they conducted a ‘Varga & Varna Aadhikka Ozhippu’ conference (meaning conference on abolishing class, varnas and dominance) in Pazhanganatham.
Credits: Su Venkatesan MP/Facebook
At the end of it, a conference headed by Tamil Puligal Katchi leader Nagai Thiruvalluvan also launched a book named Veezhattum Paarpaniyam, Sadhiyam, Mudhalaliyam (The Fall of Brahminism, Casteism and Capitalism).
This is the third-largest rally held by Periyariya Unarvalargal Kootamaippu. Earlier, the group organised a ‘black-shirt’ rally in December 2018 and a ‘blue-shirt’ rally in February 2020 at T richy and Coimbatore respectively.