CHENNAI: Cautioning Dalit organisations against being isolated from the mainstream, VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan on Sunday urged the outfits to work alongside other democratic organisations as a strategy in the interest of social justice.
“Ambedkar is often portrayed as a leader of Dalits, which is not the complete truth. He fought for all the oppressed sections of the society. However, there still is a great dilemma in this country in accepting him as a national leader. We should understand that our aim is to join the mainstream and not to get isolated from it,” said Thirumavalavan, inaugurating the seventh regional conference of All India Vijaya Bank SC/ST Employees Association and BR Ambedkar’s 123rd Jayanthi Celebrations here on Sunday.
Even though there were many leaders from the Dalit community, it was only Ambedkar who fought for social justice in the country. Social justice is a great weapon for Dalits without which no good would have happened to the members of the community, he added.
Stressing on the importance of education, particularly for the oppressed sections of the society, Thirumavalavan demanded that at least one-third of the total revenue of the government should be allocated for education.
Noting the comments made by the chairman and managing director of the bank, V Kannan, Thirumavalavan complimented him for acknowledging the SC/ST Employees Association of the bank in helping its development.
“Usually officials who come for events organised by Dalit organisations won’t be open. But here I was surprised by Chairman V Kannan’s speech that this association has helped in the development of Vijaya Bank,” he said.