Dravidian rivals organise inter-caste marriages

ERODE/COIMBATORE: The DMK and the AIADMK organised separate inter-caste marriage functions in Erode and Coimbatore respectively on Monday. As many as 117 inter-caste and inter-religious couples tied knot during DMK zonal meeting near Perundurai in Erode district in presence of the party's working president, M K Stalin.
Addressing the gathering, Stalin wished the couples and advised them not to fight with each other.

He further said DMK president M Karunanidhi had watched the two-day meeting through TV channels. "He (Karunanidhi) was overwhelmed after watching the meeting. It gave him peace," he said.

In Coimbatore, eighty six couples from different castes and religions got married at a mass marriage ceremony conducted by the AIADMK as part of the 70th birth anniversary of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

Chief minister Edappady K Palaniswami, deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam and rural and municipal administration minister S P Velumani blessed the couples at the event held at Thondamuthur.

The event also saw an inter-religious marriage. Nila Farnisha, 24, a Muslim woman, married her lover, V Vinnodh, a Hindu.

The couples were provided with wedding saris, veshtis, 8gm gold 'thaalis' and 70 household items such as gas stove, cooker and plates along with a savings bank account in each of their names.