Madurai
Social activists and scholars in this small town are demanding government honour and recognition for its lesser-known freedom fighters who had participated in the ‘Quit India’ movement launched by Gandhi in 1942. Thoothukudi district has produced several prominent freedom fighters like VO Chidambaram Pillai, Bharathiyar, Azhagu Muthu Kone, but there are several lesser-known freedom fighters who had also been active participants in the freedom struggle against the British.
One such group of freedom fighters who were not known prominently yet they fought valiantly are the freedom fighters from Kadalaiyur. Over 34 freedom fighters from weaver’s community participated in the ‘Quit India’ movement, and one among them, Sankaralinga Mudaliyar died in the firing by British soldiers.
Three more sustained bullet injuries while several people from the village were arrested. The contribution of the freedom fighters remained largely unknown till 2008, when a memorial stupa was constructed by a private player. A small group of enthusiasts, social activists and scholars pay tribute to the freedom fighters at the stupa every year. There is no other recognition of their contribution and social activists want the government to build a memorial at Kadalaiyur to honour the freedom fighters.
Muthumurugan,founder, Bharathiyar Memorial Trust, Kovilpatti, claimed that several other freedom fighters and their descendants are honoured by the state. While memorials are constructed and government functions conducted on their birth anniversaries elsewhere, there is no such public appreciation for Kadalaiyur fighters.
The struggle at Kadalaiyur on August 21, 1942, was no lesser in magnitude he said. Kovilpatti activists want their MLA Kadambur C.Raju, who is the state Information Minister responsible for organising government functions for freedom fighters, to honour the sons of the soil.
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