Farmers Movement Archive

Venmani martyrs remembered

Trichy: The 53rd anniversary of the Venmani massacre, which saw revolting dalit agriculture labourers and their family being burnt to death for seeking more wages, was observed at the Venmani Memorial at Keezhvenmani village in Nagapattinam district on Saturday. As the structure housing the memorial was damaged in the monsoon, the CPM renovated the structure and opened it for public access on Saturday.Several left and pro-dalit movement cadres gathered at the monolithic red granite memorial and pillar etched with the names of the deceased to pay floral tributes. CPM state secretary K Balakrishnan, who opened the renovated memorial, said that caste-based atrocities were not completely eradicated even as half a century has passed since the Venmani incident. “Only after farmers protested for 378 days, the Union government was forced to kneel before the farmers and repeal the controversial farm laws. Working-class is still protesting for their rights,” K Balakrishnan said. On the performance of the newly-elected DMK government in the state in the past six months, the CPM leader appreciated the measures taken by the state to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic and mandating Tamil language for state government jobs.

The Times of India

2021-12-26

Trichy