Chennai
For the first time in its history, Tamil Nadu will observe November 1 this year as Formation Day. Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy has allotted Rs 10 lakh for the celebrations. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala already observe November 1 as formation day.
The announcement has come after repeated demands for the celebration were made by Tamil Language and Culture Minister Ma Foi Pandiarajan and many Tamil groups, leaders, Tamil scholars and activists.
Land of three kingdoms
"Tamil is being spoken from North Vengadam to South Kumari" says Tholkappiam, an ancient work on the grammar of the Tamil language. But it is difficult to establish whether the entire state had ever been ruled by a single king as a unified kingdom at any point in time of history.
Although this region was ruled by three kingdoms of Cheras, Chozhas and Pandyas and the Telugus, Marathas and Saurashtrians at different points in time, the Tamils did not lose their sense of identity.
Mahakavi Bharathiyar lived in the erstwhile Madras Presidency which was created by the British for their administrative convenience and which included parts of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka. But he had penned a poem which specifies the areas under the Tamil region:
Nilai thirakkadal orathilae nindru
Niththam thavanchai kimari ellai - Vada
Maalavan kundram ivatridaiyae pugazh
Mandikidakkum Tamil Nadu
(‘Standing by the blue sea of Kanyakumari which is a border, we meditate daily; the north is bound by the hills of Maalavan, that is Tirupathi, between which lies the famous Tamil Nadu’).
This proves that Tamils did not lose their identity even when they were ruled by foreigners. During the freedom struggle, the idea of Tamil Nadu was found even among ardent nationalists like Bharathiyar. Hence, in those days, the term ‘Tamil Nadu Congress Committee’ was used instead of ‘Madras Congress Committee’.
Even then, it took a long term struggle with many martyrs and loss of lives to carve out the state of Tamil Nadu.
Are linguistic states needed?
The S K Dhar committee which was formed in June 1948 to ascertain whether linguistic states are needed submitted its report in December 1948. It recommended that linguistic states are not necessary and states should be reorganised only on the basis of administrative convenience. The three-member committee consisting of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhai Patel and Pattabi Seetharamayya which was constituted by the Congress party reiterated this view.
Jawaharlal Nehru said “United we fought for Indian independence. Why should we divide ourselves on the basis of languages after being united? Linguistic and regional feelings should not be permitted to destroy our unity. Hence, let us organise the states based on administrative convenience and ensure the rights of all sections of society.”
Legal luminary Dr B R Ambedkar said “Reorganization of states based on languages is unavoidable. But it should not be implemented through compulsion and force. But there are some dangers in creating linguistic states. Political parties are likely to utilise the language issues for their narrow political ends. To avoid the divisive forces and to unite the people, we should explore the possibility of using a single national language as the official language”.
Birth of Andhra Pradesh
The opinions of national leaders and the Dhar committee report enraged the Telugu speaking populace. Gandhian Potti Sriramulu undertook an indefinite hunger strike demanding a separate Andhra state, from June 9, 1952 and died on September 15 after 58 days. His death enraged the Telugus and led to violent protests. After uncontrollable riots, the state of Andhra Pradesh was created on October 1, 1953 as independent India’s first linguistic state. After this, Prime Minister Nehru constituted the states reorganisation committee under the chairmanship of Supreme Court Chief Justice Fasal Ali. The Telugu people wanted to make Chennai the capital of Andhra Pradesh and raised the slogan ‘Madras Manadhe” (meaning ‘Chennai is ours’).
Calls for Tamil Nadu state gains strength
Even before the demand for Andhra was raised, at the anti-Hindi conference convened in 1938 at Chennai beach, Maraimalai Adigal, Thanthai Periyar and Somasundara Bharathiyar raised the slogan “Tamil Nadu is for Tamils”. Silambu Chelvar MaPoSi convened many conferences seeking Tamil Nadu state during the same period. After Andhra Pradesh was formed, the necessity to save Chennai arose along with the calls for the state of Tamil Nadu. “We shall save our capital even if we have to lose our lives” was the slogan popularised by MaPoSi. Rajaji told Nehru that he cannot support the idea of making Chennai the capital of Andhra Pradesh and offered to resign and asked Nehru to select someone else as CM. After these developments, Nehru publicly declared that Chennai will not be given to Andhra Pradesh.
Madras that is Tamil Nadu
In the struggle for linguistic states, the Telugus called for a ‘Vishal Andhra’ (wider Andhra), Kannadigas called for a ‘Akanda Karnataka’ (wider Karnataka), while Malayalees called for a united Kerala, Maharastrians called for a ‘Samuktha Maharastra’ (united Maharastra) and Gujaratis called for a ‘Maha Gujarat’. The linguistic reorganisation of states was implemented on November 1, 1956.
With this, 14 states including Tamil Nadu and six union territories were formed. All other states were named as per the wishes of the people of those states while Tamil Nadu had to continue under the old name ‘Madras’. But calls and struggles for renaming Madras state as Tamil Nadu continued. The 76-year-old Tamil nationalist Sankaralingam undertook a fast unto death at Virudhunagar, demanding that the state be renamed Tamil Nadu and died after continuing his hunger strike for 78 days. His martyrdom was not in vain and after Arignar Anna became the chief minister in 1967, he renamed Madras state as Tamil Nadu on July 18, 1967.
Once the separate state for Tamils was achieved, intense struggles were undertaken to ensure that Tamil speaking regions in border areas were included in Tamil Nadu. In the South, a fierce struggle was undertaken to include Kanyakumari and other areas of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom, under the leadership of Marshal Nesamony. Kavimani Desiyavinayagam Pillai, Dhaanulinga Nadar, Gandhiraman, Kunjan Nadar, and Nathaniel joined this struggle. Shutdown protests were undertaken successfully, but 11 Tamils were killed in police firings. After this, Kanyakumari district was saved from going to Kerala.
Similar struggles were undertaken to safeguard the northern boundary too. Stalwarts like Thirumalai Pillai, K Vinayagam, Mangalakkizhar, Chithoor Aranganathan and N Subramanian fought under the leadership of MaPoSi and were imprisoned. Two of the protestors, Govindasamy and Palanimanikkam died while in prison. As a result of this struggle, Thirutani with 290 villages, small parts of Chithoor and Puthur districts were merged with Tamil Nadu. DMK under the leadership of Arignar Anna and the Communist Party supported these struggles.
Areas lost by Tamil Nadu
Pataskar commission for boundaries was formed to resolve border disputes between states. This commission granted Tirupathi, Chithoor and Nellore districts, which were claimed by Tamil Nadu, to Andhra Pradesh.
Devikulam, Peermedu and Neyyattrangarai areas were allotted to Kerala. Parts of Hosur, Kollegal, Kolar gold fields were allotted to Karnataka. Dissatisfaction and controversy continues to this day over the regions lost.
Identity Struggle
News Research Department
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