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Honour those who fought for Tamil Nadu: Vaiko tells govt
Recalling the sacrifice made by those who fought for the reorganisation of States on linguistic basis, MDMK general secretary Vaiko on Wednesday demanded the State government to celebrate November 1 (when Modern-day Tamil Nadu came into existence in 1956) as a government function.
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Chennai
“18 people were shot dead while protesting for the cause in Kanniyakumari. To honour those who sacrificed their lives, the State government should celebrate the day as an official function,” said Vaiko, in a statement.
In the aftermath of intense protests across the country, the Central government passed the States Reorganisation Act in 1956, which remains the single-most extensive change in State boundaries since the country’s independence.
However, the first state to be created on a linguistic basis was Andhra in 1953, created out of the Telugu-speaking northern parts of Madras State.
“After independence, the then Union government decided to reorganise India into five parts and was opposed to the idea of reorganising States based on language. But there was strong opposition to it as people demanded States on linguistic lines,” said Vaiko.
The MDMK leader said many prominent leaders in Tamil Nadu such as Periyar, Aringar Anna, Rajaji, S P Adithanar, Jeeva and P T Rajan fought unitedly for the cause and succeeded.
“Although Tamil Nadu lost Bengaluru, Kolar, Tirupati, Chittoor, Devikulam and Peermedu to neighbouring States, we are happy that their demands were met in 1956,” he said.
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