CHENNAI: Gandhian Sasi Perumal (59), who passed away on Friday while staging a demonstration for removing a TASMAC shop in Kanyakumari district, devoted the best part of his life fighting for prohibition in the State since 1972.
When former Chief Minister K Kamaraj spearheaded anti-liquor agitations across the State, Sasi Perumal, who was around 18 years old then, too actively took part in it and received praises from the late leader for that.
For the past many years, Sasi Perumal had been heading the National People’s Federation and was actively involved with all grassroot level organisations which worked against liquor.
Born in an agricultural family in Edanganasalai Mettukadu, a remote village in Salem district in 1955, Sasi Perumal studied only up to sixth standard. At a very young age, he staged many agitations for public causes in the districts and villages like drinking water, road facility etc. But his main focus was on prohibition.
Sasi Perumal was also attracted towards naturopathy and offered advice to people about curing ailments. Just a few days ago, when the Toddy Movement urged the State government to lift ban on toddy tapping and its sale, Sasi Perumal vehemently opposed it.
In this connection, he recalled his experiences four decades ago.
“We have seen people swooned before toddy shops and the evils of its consumption. The natural products of coconut and palm trees can be marketed in many ways and toddy extraction would not be the solution,” he said.
On June 27, when he staged demonstrations demanding nationwide prohibition, Sasi Perumal told Express that he was planning to take his agitation once again to New Delhi.
Last year, he underwent fasting for 35 days at Jantar Mantar urging the Centre to enforce nationwide prohibition and even submitted a petition to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
It was not the first time Sasi Perumal was undertaking such a prolonged hunger strike. In February 2013, he undertook 33 days of fasting in Chennai.
At one stage, to drive home his point, Sasi Perumal even fell at the feet
of hundreds of customers outside liquor shops pleading with them to kick the bottle.
Satta Panchayat Iyakkam leader Senthil Arumugam recalls, “The continuous fasting by Sasi Perumal created a great awareness among the public. Every political leader called on his at the fasting venue and expressed their solidarity. In fact, the demand for prohibition in Tamil Nadu gained greater momentum after that.”
Recently, during the by-election to RK Nagar Assembly constituency, all anti-liquor organisations led by Sasi Perumal announced social activist Traffic Ramaswamy as their common candidate.
Sasi Perumal had also filed his nomination as an alternative candidate for Traffic Ramaswamy but
his papers were rejected by the Returning Officer and once again, Sasi Perumal went on a fasting in front of RO’s office.