Sir — This refers to the editorial, “End of an era” (August 9). Educated up to Class VIII, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) patriarch Karunanidhi became one of the greatest scholars and interpreters of ancient Tamil literature and turned the Tamil film industry into an instrument of social and political change. He was not a politician who came just to occupy the position of a Chief Minister and then pass into oblivion.
Karunanidhi stood at the centre of a movement that asserted a language and race-based identity of the Tamil people.
He even leveraged the national political scene to make Tamil Nadu the fulcrum of national politics. In the end, he will be known for successfully persuading the Centre to acknowledge the vital identity of States within an Indian federation.