THIRD in a row, the 'Gender equality Walk' undertaken on the night of July 4 took the city of Chennai again by surprise, this time with even more excitement, exultation and extended participation. People beyond the Party membership swarmed near Thanthai Periyar statue at Anna Salai at around 10 pm at the warm invitation of the CPI(M) Central Chennai District Committee to take a vow for gender equality and condemn the increasing atrocities against women and children in the society. 

The whole area appeared in a festive mood with illuminated umbrellas, cheers, cries and howls of camaraderie and songs and dance to the tune of left and progressive art troupes. On the other side, cadres of SFI and DYFI were busy with their brushes painting the symbol of the hammer and sickle on the hands and cheeks of the participants and issuing wristbands with the slogan of gender equality writ large on them. Spontaneous slogans against caste, gender and class oppression rent the air. People joined in families, some with their small kids and children. A big fanfare was waiting in store as the passersby in the otherwise busy road looked at the whole celebratory mood unfolding every other second as they waited for the signal. 

P Sampath,  Central Committee member of the CPI(M), garlanded the statue of Periyar as G Selva,  District Secretary of the CPI(M) Central Chennai, exhorted the gathering, marking the start of the gender equality walk to the utmost merriment of all.The entire gathering, which numbered in multiple hundreds, set off for yet another historic occasion in the city, even as the cultural troupes continued their parai beating throughout the entire stretch of the walk. Women, men, transgenders and those from the LGBTQ+ and children kept dancing all the way, holding high the portraits of social reformers, communist leaders and freedom fighters who had rendered supreme sacrifices for humanity at large. Age was no bar to dance to the beat of drums and the parai echoed the sound of the hearts against all kinds of oppression!

The walkers were from different walks of life - from very poor sections of unorganised labour, auto drivers, domestic helps, gig workers, etc to writers, artists, trade union leaders and social workers.  The tremendous exuberance experienced by the enthralled participants was beyond description.  Their slogans were not for gender equality alone. They raised slogans against the gruesome sexual atrocities against young kids and women reported in the State recently and also elsewhere. The commitment and the resolve exhibited by one and all enriched the unity of the occasion. There has been a heartening increase in participation ever since the first such initiative was taken by the CPI(M) Central Chennai in August 2023, followed up by the gender walk staged in November 2024.

The desire to walk upto the Marina Beach and conclude the programme near the Labour statue was curtailed by the administration who did not permit a peaceful walk for a genuine cause even at the late hour. Hence, en route at a point near the Doordarshan Kendra, the walk came to an end. The entire gathering took the vow as S Mridhula, President of the Tamil Nadu State Committee of the SFI read out a pledge for gender equality, not in words but in daily routine in life in the society.  Poet and activist Agni read out a protest against the amendment to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026. P Sampath, CCM, briefly greeting the participants and pointed out that the walk was part of the resolve to bring about a socialist society. G Selva thanked all the participants and a small book on the history of the City of Chennai by Ramachandra Vaidyanath was distributed to all along with cakes and fruit juice.

The clock struck 12 o'clock midnight but the jubilation shared by the mass of people suggested that the daybreak into a better society was getting nearer.