In the Dravidian heartland, a statue for Marx in the heart of Chennai: Stalin keeps the red in good humour

At a time when the Left is fighting back to the wall for electoral relevance across the country, the DMK government is bringing alive the father of communism, Karl Marx, by installing a statue of the late philosopher at the sprawling Connemara Public Library–State Museum campus in the heart of Chennai.

Chief Minister MK Stalin, whose DMK is providing a lifeline to the two dominant left parties, CPI and CPI(M), by ensuring two MPs each, is unveiling the statue on Friday. Like his father, the late DMK patriarch and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, Stalin too claims that the Dravidian ideology is akin to the Communist ideology and that is why half of the DMK flag is red.

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Last September, Stalin paid tributes to Marx by paying a visit to his memorial at Highgate Cemetery during his visit to London to scout for foreign investment. He also visited the Ambedkar memorial on the occasion.

“Both Dravidian ideology and Communist ideology stand against casteism, class division, authoritarianism and all forms of oppression. The comradeship will defeat fascism, communalism, authoritarianism and dictatorship. Those who tried to divide and destroy us have now collapsed…Despite minor differences, both Dravidianism and Communism stand for everything for everyone. I want to emphasise that ideologies of black, red and blue must stand together,” he had said on Sunday, addressing the 100th foundation day celebration of the CPI at Chennai.

The demand for a statue for the German philosopher was first mooted a few years ago by independent Marxists, including writer A Marx, a retired college professor. A committee was also formed to take the idea forward. Initially, it was suggested that the statue should be at the Marina seafront or at Nandanam. But Marx had expressed great satisfaction at the new venue, the more than a century-old British-era Connemara library campus. The library in the Egmore area of the city, built in 1890, was opened to the public in 1896. Now, it has Marx added to it.