Annamalai Draws Line Between Periyar’s Social Reforms and Ideology

Former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai on Sunday said he rejected the atheistic and anti-Brahmin ideology associated with Dravidian leader E V Ramasamy ‘Periyar’, while acknowledging his contributions to women’s empowerment and the fight against caste discrimination.

Addressing volunteers who took part in a Vaigai river cleanup drive in Madurai, Annamalai said Periyar’s social reform initiatives and ideological positions should be viewed separately.

“We accept that he spoke well for women’s liberation. We accept that he spoke about caste eradication,” Annamalai said, adding that he did not accept Periyar’s atheistic policies or anti-Brahminism.

He also pointed to what he described as contradictions in Periyar’s political positions, referring to his views on Hindi and the Dravidian movement. Annamalai claimed that while Periyar opposed Hindi in the 1930s, he later made strong remarks against those protesting the language. He also recalled that Periyar had backed former Chief Minister K Kamaraj during the 1961 elections rather than consistently supporting the DMK.

Annamalai further reiterated his proposal to relocate statues carrying atheistic inscriptions installed outside Hindu temples if the BJP comes to power in Tamil Nadu. He said such statues could be shifted respectfully to alternative public locations, arguing that devotees visiting temples should not have to encounter anti-religious messages at temple entrances.

The former BJP state chief also highlighted the work of his organisation, ‘We the Leaders’, which he said had removed 163 tonnes of waste from a 33-acre stretch of the Vaigai over a seven-week campaign launched on August 3.

He alleged that the local administration had failed to properly utilise around Rs 1,400 crore in Central funds provided for Madurai’s sanitation between 2014 and 2019.

Annamalai said the organisation had crossed 20 lakh verified members since June 5 and planted more than 10.17 lakh saplings across Tamil Nadu, with planting details recorded online.