Topic: Anna Centenary
ANNA's CENTENARY AND HIS FOLLOWERS
3 rd Febraury 1969: The entire population of Tamilnadu literally seems to be present in Chennai. The demise of Anna brought sea of humanity to the sands of marina beach. To have a last glimpse of the leader every Tamil came perched on the roof tops of over crowded trains, buses and all modes of transport, including by foot. The Madras bound Janet Express was full beyond its capacity and people were in its roof unfortunately when the train crossed the Coleroon Bridge in between Coleroon and Chidambaram stations. Alas! 28 persons were crushed to death and 70 injured in that train where Anna's brothers traveled to have the last minute glimpse of his body. It was a matter of single minded devotion to reach Rajaji Hall where Anna's body was kept for public view that drove every Tamilian. Loss of even lives did not deter them from their determination. The entire police summoned to control crowds could not perform and they resorted to burst tear gas shells several times. I was there in the stampede running to the underground passage of Anna Salai to escape tear gas with burning eyes full of tears already for having lost my mentor.
The Guinness book of Records says " that the funeral of Anna was attended by the largest number of people in the world " Panruti S.Ramachandran in his preface to the book "Anna Speaks- at the Rajya Sabha 1962-66" writes ' The century had witnessed only 3 funerals comparable to anywhere like that of Anna's. The first one was that of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhara Tilak at Bombay in 1920, the second was that of Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi in 1948 and the third was that of Jawaharlal Nehru in Delhi in 1964". He also writes ' another striking feature of the entire funeral procession was the predominance of ordinary people like sweepers, scavengers, slum dwellers and hut dwellers'. In that see of humanity I braved my way where the pit to bury Anna was dug and took handful of that sand which for two decades I preserved till my family members threw it away without knowing its sentimental value. I took the oath not to eat fish for a year to mourn Anna's demise. I was so fond of fish that I cannot remain without eating it. Apart from my personal feelings which by sheer luck I am recording here, millions felt their lives have lost its meaning in a land without Anna. But for Anna, our motherland would not have been named as Tamil Nadu.
The struggle for naming of Tamil Nadu is yet to be written as separate book. Let me reproduce few lines “Tamil Nadu was once named after its capital city, Madras.The situation was a complicated one. Even Congressmen spoke of Tamil Nadu within the state, reserving Madras State for letters and speeches meant for external consumption. To appease the Tamil people they even changed the name of Aranmore Palace in Ooty to Tamizhagam. But they were not willing to set right this anomaly by making a Constitutional amendment. It was Thiru.Bhupesh Gupta of the Communist party who took the initiative in 1961 by introducing a private members bill to amend the first schedule entry number 7 of the Constitution. The purpose of the Bill was to call the Madras State by its rightful name Tamil Nadu in conformity with the historical, linguistic and cultural considerations. Anna's impassionate defense of this bill will be long remembered for its sincere emotion and clear cut reasoning.
The adamant Center refused to yield and opposed the private member's motion to call "Madras State" by its rightful name Tamil Nadu. With its majority the Congress party defeated the Bill, but the change could not be resisted for long. Four years later in 1967 when the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was elected to power in Madras State, Anna as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu achieved his objective with unanimous backing of both Houses of the State legislature. Today there is no Madras State, only Tamil Nadu" Panruti Ramachandran's note in the book mentions.
But we must also remember Sangaralinganaar who fasted to death for this cause in spite of being a Congressman."Thamizh Naadu" should not be misspelt as Tamil Nadu. Is it not our duty to set this right, while saluting all who gave up their lives for the cause of Tamil Nadu.On my 61st birth day I appeal to Tamilnadu Government that it is not mere celebrations people expect from Anna's disciples.All the books of Anna must be brought out in all Indian languages like the honour Maharastra Government gave for Babasaheb Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, instead of statues galore.
N.Nandhivarman General Secretary Dravida Peravai
