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Periyar statue

This refers to the hope expressed by a reader that the Dravidar Kazhagam will reserve at least some space for the proposed statues of Periyar E.V. Ramasami near places of worship of religious minorities (Letters, Dec. 19). A Periyar statue has been installed outside the Sankara Mutt in Kancheepuram. A mosque exists on the same street. The mutt or the mosque authorities rightly did not raise any objection when it was installed.

If the DK's proposal to put up 128 statues across Tamil Nadu is given effect to, the sites will naturally be spread over markets, residential colonies, and religious places. One should assimilate the positive views propagated by Periyar. Other reformers also supported many of his views on social issues.

M.S. Venkataraman,
Granite Bay, California

In 1953, Periyar and his followers decided to take out a procession of Lord Ganesha adorned with chappals in Salem. The police wanted to ban the procession and take preventive measures against the organisers. Rajaji, who was Chief Minister, told the police that no action should be taken.

He instructed them to give protection to the procession and ensure that no untoward incident took place.

He believed that the larger majority of Hindus would ignore such antics by a minuscule minority. There was no greater believer in god than Rajaji but he and Periyar were good friends.

V. Gopalan,
Chennai

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