603-day Vaikom Satyagraha centenary celebrations begin

MK Stalin said that the struggle that took place at Vaikom was a guiding struggle for India and the Vaikom Satyagraha movement inspired the anti-untouchability campaign in many parts of the country.   

Kottayam: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and chief guest Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin inaugurated the centenary celebrations of historic Vaikom Satyagraha on Saturday in Kottayam. The celebrations will be held for around 603 days. Both the Chief Ministers arrived at Thanthai Periyar Memorial at Vaikom around 4 pm and reached the stage after paying floral tributes at Smriti Mandapams.

Stalin said that the struggle that took place at Vaikom was a guiding struggle for India and the Vaikom Satyagraha movement inspired the anti-untouchability campaign in many parts of the country.

He also said that Vaikom Satyagraha also brought change in Tamil Nadu and it was his wish to reach Vaikom. Hence, he said that he came to participate in the program of the state government even though it was the time of the cabinet meeting in Tamil Nadu. Stalin gave hands to the state government for organising an elaborate program related to Vaikom Satyagraha on behalf of Tamil people. 

Vaikom Satyagraha, according to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, sounded the bugle against Chatur Varnyam. 'Conflicts throughout the Renaissance should not be waged in isolation. Kerala and Tamil Nadu share a history of civil war,' he said.

To the unversed, Vaikom Satyagraha which started from 30 March 1924 to 23 November 1925, was a nonviolent agitation for access to the prohibited public premises of the Vaikom temple in the Kingdom of Travancore. The campaign, led by Congress leaders TK Madhavan, K Kelappan and KP Kesava Menon, was noted for the active support and participation offered by different communities and a variety of activists. Lower castes (untouchables) were long prohibited from entering the majority of the major temples in the princely state of Travancore, as well as from using the nearby roadways. Madhavan, a leader in the Ezhava Congress and a devotee of Sri Narayana Guru, led the movement. The campaign demanded access to the roadways surrounding the Vaikom Temple for 'untouchables' and Ezhavas.