[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 142 (Friday, August 24, 2018)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E1176] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] HONORING MUTHUVEL KARUNANITHI ______ HON. DANNY K. DAVIS of illinois in the house of representatives Friday, August 24, 2018 Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, some of my Tamil American constituents brought to my attention the passing of an extraordinary man: Muthuvel Karunanithi who was born June 3, 1924 and passed away August 7, 2018. Muthuvel Karunanithi became involved in social justice issues at age of 14, publishing a handwritten journal that has been published as a weekly ever since. He wrote regularly until he fell ill at the age of 92. Muthuvel Karunanithi was a poet, writer, publisher, orator, novelist, and literary critic in the Tamil language. His books sold millions of copies and his movie scripts shattered old boundaries of political possibility, articulating a new vision of human relationships. He ran for political office thirteen times and never lost over a seventy year period. He was chief minister of the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India five times. His career was marked by a lifelong commitment to breaking the barriers of the caste system, especially for the lowest caste people who handle human waste. Karunanithi led a successful effort for an affirmative action program for their admittance to medical schools and subsequent admission to the practice of medicine. He visited Chicago in 1972. Muthuvel Karunanithi was a man from the lowest rung of the social ladder who climbed the highest political mountains, but kept his lifestyle simple and his thoughts and actions fixed on the highest aspirations for all of his people. ____________________