Observing that India’s unique, diverse, multi-cultural federation is under threat from “bigotry and religious hegemony”, DMK President M K Stalin on Wednesday wrote to leaders of 37 political parties, including Congress and arch-rival AIADMK, to join the All India Federation for Social Justice launched by him to protect the “interests of the oppressed”.
In the letter addressed to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav, and AIADMK’s O Panneerselvam, Stalin said he firmly believed that the time has finally arrived to “stand together” as a “true Union of States” to enabling the oppressed to unshackle centuries of oppression and exclusion from mainstream society.
The letter was sent to JD (S) chief H D Deve Gowda, TMC’s Mamata Banerjee, Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena), K Chandrashekar Rao (TRS), Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy (YSRCP), Arvind Kejriwal (AAP), N Chandrababu Naidu (TDP), Farooq Abdullah (NC), Hemant Soren (JMM), Mayawati (BSP), and N Rangasamy (AINRC).
“We must take extraordinary steps to eradicate gender discrimination along with caste discrimination, and also enable the differently-abled to compete in the mainstream…We must unite with the same conviction and purpose as we did in order to establish the Mandal Commission,” he said.
Stalin had on January 26 announced the launch of the All India Federation for Social Justice in order to bring to a common platform all leaders, members of civil society and like-minded individuals and organisations to “strive towards achieving the principles of federalism and social justice at the national level.”
The invitation to leaders across the country, especially the AIADMK, is significant as Stalin continues to take forward the DMK’s battle against the BJP, which is making a renewed push to make inroads in the state. The term social justice has been resonating in almost all of Stalin’s public speeches especially after he assumed office as Chief Minister last year.
Contending that every grain of sand speaks of the social justice revolution brought about by social reformer E V R Periyar in Tamil Nadu, Stalin said it is his indomitable philosophy that has formed the bedrock of Tamil society and shaped the politics during the last eight decades.
He also recalled DMK’s battle for social justice and referred to its legal battle to obtain 27% OBC reservations in the state contributed seats to All India Quota in medical and dental courses across the country.
“However, reservations are not sufficient to ensure social justice. At every step, the oppressed must be accorded positive affirmation to enable them to unshackle centuries of oppression and exclusion from mainstream society,” the DMK chief said.
He said the federation will be a platform for its members to create a roadmap to take forward the battle for social justice in India and identify the areas in which we can do more, and bring about a common minimum programme to be uniformly adopted by all states.
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