In honour of unsung local freedom fighters

In its second year, the three-day expo began on Sunday at RS Puram Corporation Higher Secondary School in the textile city.

The exhibition features 271 pictures of local freedom fighters, including six women from

Coimbatore and Tirupur. Some of the leaders have taken part in quite a few protests including the derailment of a train carrying weapons from Kochi to Sulur (Coimbatore) by removing a few bolts from the track. While the train fell into the Singanallur Lake, the protesters went ahead to burn down the Royal Navy Air Yard at Sulur the same day. Other struggles in which these heroes participated include the Quit India Movement and Salt Satyagraha.

“People know popular freedom fighters like Gandhiji, Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose at the national level and Bharathiar and VO Chidambaram Pillai from the state. We have had freedom fighters from the next door and have not recognised them. We have organised the expo to honour them,” S Muthuvel (41), a painter and president of the trust, told DT Next.

Last year, these daily wage labourers managed to collect pictures of 240 freedom fighters including four women from Coimbatore. “We are trying to collect pictures of more fighters from Coimbatore. But, we wanted to add pictures of fighters from at least one more district every year. This year after undergoing considerable hardships, we got the names and pictures of 31 heroes, including two women from Tirupur,” he said.

Of those featured, only G Muthusamy (99) of Pollachi is alive, said the organisers. “We are trying to get a brief biography of the fighters and publish the content along with their pictures. But we are short of time and resources as we have to work every day for our living,” said R Karunan, a motor pump mechanic and secretary of the trust.

For the first 15 years, the 17-yearold trust celebrated Independence Day by distributing dresses and food to abandoned inmates of homes and organising entertainment programmes for them. “My wife Santhanalakshmi suggested that we remember freedom fighters in a way that will be a fitting tribute to them. That was the spark behind remembering the local unsung heroes,” said Muthuvel.

Next year, they plan to collect pictures of freedom fighters from Thoothukudi and add them to the Independence Day expo, as their trust is named after VOC, who hailed from that district.