Annamalai backs Periyar's social reform, rejects atheism and anti-Brahminism
K Annamalai said he values Periyar's social reform work but rejects his atheism and anti-Brahminism. The remarks sharpen the BJP's ideological pitch in Tamil Nadu while reviving its promise on temple-side statues.
Former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai on Sunday said he sees "numerous contradictions" in the history of Dravidian stalwart E V Ramasamy 'Periyar', whom he said he credits for speaking on women's liberation and caste eradication but whose atheistic and anti-Brahmin positions he "absolutely" rejects.
Speaking at a gathering of volunteers who took part in a Vaigai river cleanup drive in Madurai, Annamalai drew a distinction between Periyar's social reform work and his core ideology. He also repeated his party's stand that statues carrying atheistic inscriptions outside Hindu temples would be relocated if the BJP comes to power in Tamil Nadu.
"We accept that he spoke well for women's liberation. We accept that he spoke about caste eradication," Annamalai said. "However, I absolutely do not accept Periyar's atheistic policies, and I absolutely do not accept Periyar's anti-Brahminism," he added.
Referring to what he described as inconsistencies in Periyar's positions, Annamalai said, "He spoke about Hindi opposition in 1935, but the same Periyar in 1965 said to shoot anyone who protests against Hindi." He also said Periyar did not always back the DMK, adding, "In 1961, he asked people to vote for Pachai Thamizhan Kamaraj".
On the issue of statues outside temples, Annamalai said, "Saying 'there is no God, there is no God, there is no God at all' right outside the temple will not suit us," arguing that people visiting temples are believers and should not have to face such messages at the entrance. "We will respectfully take it and place it in a new location," he said, adding that such statues would be shifted to other public spaces.
Annamalai also praised volunteers of his movement, 'We the Leaders', saying they had removed 163 tonne of waste from a 33-acre stretch of the Vaigai river in Madurai during a seven-week drive that began on August 3. He said real political change in Tamil Nadu needs action on the ground and not just rhetoric, and criticised the local administration for not using an estimated Rs 1,400 crore given by the Central government between 2014 and 2019 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Madurai's sanitation to prevent such pollution.
Annamalai used the event to set out his position on Periyar, repeat the BJP's promise on temple-side statues, and highlight the Vaigai cleanup while attacking the local administration over sanitation spending in Madurai.