Extending his greetings on the occasion of the Pongal festival, MDMK General Secretary Vaiko stated in his message as follows:
“Pongal is a sublime festival celebrated by Tamils, a five-day celebration that brings joy to the entire world.
Pongal is a secular, primary, and golden festival.
It is an exalted festival revered by farmers, a festival of dignity, a festival of Tamils — the Pongal festival!
For Tamils, there is no other festival that can truly be called the ‘Festival of the Tamils’ as much as Pongal.
It is for this noble reason that we celebrate Pongal Day as a grand festival and observe it as the Great Tamil Day.
The reason Pongal greetings hold such universal acceptance among people is that the Pongal festival is regarded as the festival of the Tamils.
On such an auspicious day of celebration, it is in the very nature of the Tamil people to come together in unity and convey a single message of goodwill.
A greeting, in the Tamil tradition, signifies wishing well to people of dignity and virtue — enriched with music equal to the nine forms of Tamil, resonating with justice, voice, and human values.
Justice must be ensured for the Eelam Tamils, and the United Nations Human Rights Council should take steps to obtain proper Tamil testimonies. This message must be conveyed to the world.
Those who transform such an approach into a festival are none other than the Tamils of the world! To live is to give life; giving life itself is living! In cultural life, labour is the elevation of life. The festival that carries the strength and virtue to convey this greatness to the world is the ancient and noble Pongal festival.
On behalf of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, I extend my Thai Pongal festival greetings to all Tamils across the world.”
— Thus stated.