CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin will be inaugurating the renovated memorial-cum-library for social reformer Periyar EV Ramasamy in Vaikom, Kerala, to mark the centenary of the Vaikom struggle, in the presence of his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan on December 12.
Senior ministers from Stalin’s cabinet and officials will take part in this event. On behalf of the Kerala government, ministers Saji Cherian and VN Vasavan will be attending this event. The Periyar memorial-cum-library in Vaikom has been renovated at a cost of Rs 8.14 crore.
An official release explained in detail what forced the Vaikom struggle 100 years ago. Vaikom was part of the princely state of Travancore in 1924 and the government offices and courts were located around the Mahadeva temple in that town.
Madhavan, an advocate belonging to the Ezhava community (which was treated as an untouchable community at that time), could not enter the court. Protesting this, advocate Madhavan, Kesava Menon, TK Madhavan, and many others staged agitations and all of them were arrested.
Barrister George Joseph who got arrested in the last batch wrote to Periyar, who was at that time president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, to continue the Vaikom struggle. From April 13, Periyar led the agitation and it became intense.
Periyar was also imprisoned twice for a total period of seven months. Since people of the villages located around Vaikom also joined the protests, the Travancore government lifted the ban for people belonging to Ezhava and other communities to walk through the street where the Mahadeva temple is located.