‘Walk for Equality’ a call for unity against divisive forces: Vaiko

“Walk for Equality was aimed at creating a movement to crush the forces attempting to divide the people along religious line, said Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader Vaiko.

Concluding his 140-kilometre ‘Samathuva nadai payanam’ from Tiruchi to Madurai on Monday, Mr. Vaiko said, “The Hindutva forces are actively attempting to drive a wedge between communities through various incidents, most notably the Thirupparankundram deepam controversy, using identity-based politics to achieve their divisive motives.”

Though it was a site of communal harmony for hundreds of years, the hillock was now being projected as a point of conflict, a move intended solely to inject divisive ideologies into the public consciousness, he contended.

Mr. Vaiko stated that a Madras High Court judge exceeded his judicial mandate by ordering petitioners to light a lamp atop the hill, thereby adding fuel to a religiously charged narrative.

Declaring that he feared no one, he recalled how he had even refused a judge’s offer of leniency during his trial for supporting the LTTE. During a 2022 RSS-VHP conference in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad), an open proclamation was made to strike out the words ‘secularism’ and ‘socialism’ from the Preamble to the Indian Constitution, he added.

Furthermore, they declared their intent to strip Muslims and Christians of their voting rights and citizenship status within the country.

Mr. Vaiko alleged that BJP Ministers and elected representatives had endorsed these proclamations by acting as mute spectators while strategically working toward the goals laid out in that meeting.

“Amit Shah, who acts as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right hand, comes to Tamil Nadu and talks about wiping out the DMK. Where does this arrogance come from — to speak of destroying a Dravidian movement that has 75 years of history? What does he even know about the Dravidian movement?,“ he questioned.

Asserting that these agendas struck at the heart of the Constitution, Mr. Vaiko called for the defeat of the BJP at the Centre and a resounding return for the DMK alliance in the State to protect the nation’s democratic fabric.

Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan, Tiruchi MP Durai Vaiko, Madurai South MLA M. Boominathan, Madurai North MLA G. Thalapathi, lyricist Vairamuthu and actor Sathyaraj were present during the event.