The official organ of the Dravida Kazagham, the; rationalist, (Dec. 92) has an expert of a red by Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy at Wards on ob. 1928, taws first published in the daily I Dravidian, dated 5.81929.
Periyar, the great rationalist, says: “Till a few minutes before my death, I shall fight for the abolition of this Hindu religion, caste and puranic prevarications, and will die as a Muslim. I wish to save my posterity from being steeped in superstition. I shall die as a Muslim to make my lineage give up the practice of washing the feet of the Brahmins and drinking that dirty water. There are no caste differences among the Muslims, and they do not entertain the mean feeling that some are born superior and others are inferior by birth. in the mosque, the ruler as well as the commoner occupy the same status while worshiping. Their religion makes them brave and bold.”
It is a tragic pity that the great Periyar died before he, along with millions of his devoted followers, could convert to Islam. is it net the duty of all Pediatrists today to fulfill his wish by throwing away the shackles of Hinduism (i.e. Brahminism) and embracing Islam?
We have published the text of his speech under the title, Salvation to Shudra slavery (DSA 1986). The book was sold out long back though there’s Abi demand for it. The Shudras and SC/ST/BCs should know the greatness of Islam which Periyar had praised and wanted to embrace. The Tamil speech was translated English by Periyar’s disciple, Prof. A.M. Dah ‘Malinga, a noted scholar and an upper caste Hindu. Will somebody support us to reprint this book? pages 42 Editor.
