Former Union Finance Minister and senior Congress member graced the event held to pay tribute to former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi at Ayanavaram.
Addressing the event, Chidambaram said if the Dravidian movement dominated the political scene of Tamil Nadu and made a difference in the way people thought, the seed was sown by Periyar and the nursery was nurtured by Anna. It was Kalaignar Karunanithy who saw to it that it grew into a big tree.
During his address, Chidambaram said: "For half a century, Kalaignar remained inseparable from the lives and ideas of Tamils not only in Tamil Nadu, but across the world. You may love him or hate him, but you cannot disagree that there was no one to equal him.
His film Parasakthi made an impact and was read as a text book. The then Chief Minister Rajaji wrote to the censor board recommending its ban since he feared that it was loaded with revolutionary ideas against irrational beliefs and would galvanise the non-Brahmin masses.
Karunanidhi was ahead of the times and legislations for approving inter-caste marriage, equal rights for women in family properties, land reforms and 30 per cent reservation for women in government jobs. He had proved that he possessed enormous courage to think the unthinkable."