CHENNAI: In a bid to counter the propaganda of Right-wing and Tamil nationalists groups, a team of four on Thursday launched a digital community to highlight the history and struggles of the Dravidian movement and its uplift of the downtrodden by applying the principles of social justice.
The forum, dubbed the Dravidian Professionals Forum (DPF), was revived by DMK MLA from Madurai Central PTR Thiagarajan, grandson of PT Rajan, former Chief Minister of Madras presidency, who originally founded the DPF. Its executive coordinators are senior orthopedic surgeon Dr Aravindan, economist S Dharanidharan and lawyer P Puhazh Gandhi.
“The present generation has not had the opportunity to learn about the social struggle our forefathers waged against the system to ensure a level-playing field for the future generations,” one of the coordinators said.
Listing the achievements of the Dravidian movement, he said that today Tamil Nadu is at the forefront of development as compared to all other States owing to the level-playing field created by the Dravidian movement. “TN’s Gross Enrollment Ratio is 49% against 21% in rest of India and even the US (43%). Infant mortality rate in TN is 17 out of 100, while in Uttar Pradesh, it is 34 out of 100.”
While these achievements were made possible by the movement and successive Dravidian governments, the present generation has not been made aware of the benefits of social justice politics. “This has resulted in them drifting towards the ideas and ideals of oppressive forces.
We felt it necessary to create awareness among the masses, mainly the urban masses, on the need for self-introspection to ensure equality and social justice in all spheres of life,” the coordinator explained. The DPF aims at spreading Dravidian ideals to achieve the goal of self-respect and social justice, he added.
DMK to hold black flag protest in support of ryots
Chennai: Expressing solidarity with the farmers’ protest in Delhi, the DMK is set to stage black flag protests in all district headquarters around 10 am on Saturday. Party president MK Stalin held a virtual meeting with DMK’s district secretaries on Thursday, when a resolution was adopted.