Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced that he will unveil a statue of rationalist leader and social reformer Periyar E.V. Ramasamy at Oxford University on September 4. The event will mark the centenary of the Self-Respect Movement.Stalin said Periyar’s rallying cry, “Oppression is my enemy,” will now resonate at Oxford. “Periyar goes global! His ideals of equality are not bounded by borders; they belong to humanity as a whole,” he wrote in a social media post.
During the event, Stalin will also release two books chronicling the hundred-year journey and living legacy of the movement. He highlighted that the Self-Respect Movement, which challenged caste tyranny and gender barriers in Tamil Nadu, will be placed in dialogue with struggles worldwide for dignity, equality, and freedom.