VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan paying homage at the memorial of massacre victims at Melavalavu near Melur in Madurai district on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: G. MOORTHY
Melur was a place where freedom fighter and politician Kakkan was born in a Scheduled Caste family and was respected; but Murugesan, an SC panchayat president, was murdered; and which now saw the election of an SC candidate, P. Viswanathan (the Higher Education Minister) in a general Assembly constituency recently. There was a social change. The people of Melur should be appreciated and thanked for that. This social harmony should spread across Tamil Nadu, said VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan.The ‘Melavalavu massacre’ of 1997 shook the entire State. But political parties and leaders remained silent and no one strongly condemned the incident. Now, Dalit politics was being widely discussed in Tamil Nadu and it included the discussion of having a Dalit Chief Minister. This was an achievement of the VCK, Mr. Thirumavalavan said, asserting that the party was a force to reckon with.He was addressing a public meeting at Melavalavu in Melur taluk in Madurai district on Tuesday, marking the anniversary of the ‘Melavalavu massacre’, in which seven SC people, including panchayat president Murugesan, were murdered. Minister for Social Justice Vanni Arasu was present.Mr. Thirumavalavan said the memorial event held every year was not just merely a formality or a platform for anti-caste discourse. It was a platform to review how the VCK and the SC people had performed and progressed in one year. It was also a platform to motivate themselves. No one else would motivate them, but would only spread animosity, he said.He said once when he wanted to pay respect to the seven slain people, he was stopped by police. Though he sought permission to pay his respect, he was not allowed.He said he simply placed the garlands he had brought on the soil at Melavalavu which was trodden by the seven people in the past, he said, adding that he did not choose violence. He said Murugesan was a fearless man and despite the threat, he did not back down.Mr. Thirumavalavan said some people were teasing the VCK office-bearers over the two seats the party had won in the Assembly elections. However, the entire world now knew the importance of those two seats. Without the VCK, Tamil Nadu politics could not function, he said.He said under the TVK government, there were eight Ministers belonging to the Scheduled Castes. The representation had come. To protect, to preserve and to take it to the next level was the responsibility of the VCK cadre, he said. Published - June 30, 2026 10:28 pm IST
