Tamil Nadu day: Tracing the roots

Stalin said a lot of sacrifices had to be made to name the state Tamil Nadu and they had to wait decades, but the DMK was ultimately able to make it happen.

The history of Tamil Nadu dates back to the 19th Century when E V Ramasamy ‘Periyar’ (1879-1973) had started the Self Respect Movement to “redeem the identity and self-respect” of Tamils. He envisaged an independent Dravida homeland of Dravida Nadu, comprising Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada speakers, and launched a political party, Dravidar Kazhagam (DK), to pursue this goal.

Periyar, the founder of the Self-Respect Movement (1925), was both anti-caste and anti-religion. He advocated major social reforms, including equality for women in society, and supporting birth control for women for their health and well-being. He also opposed the domination of Hindi and emphasised the distinct cultural identity of the Tamil nation.

The States Reorganisation Act, 1956, redrew the boundaries of states along linguistic lines, and created the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Mysore and Kerala in southern India.

After Periyar, C N Annadurai (1909-1969) was the last Chief Minister of Madras state, and the first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He founded the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) after breaking with Periyar due to ideological differences. In 1967, Annadurai became Chief Minister.

CN Annadurai taking oath as the CM of Tamil Nadu. (Source: Express photo)

Cut to 2021, after Chief Minister M K Stalin assumed office he declared July 18 as Tamil Nadu formation day.

The AIADMK government had previously declared November 1 as Tamil Nadu day. Edappadi K Palaniswami, as Chief Minister in 2019, had announced that Tamil Nadu Day will be observed on November 1 following requests from various quarters then.

However, M K Stalin clarified that on November 1 linguistic Reorganisation of States was done in the country following which parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala “went away” from the then Madras State. “Subsequently, the previous government had announced November 1 from 2019 as Tamil Nadu Day. However, various sections including political parties, Tamil scholars, activists and associations have been insisting that November 1 would only signify the “border struggle” and that it would not be appropriate to celebrate the day as Tamil Nadu Day,” he had said in a statement.

“They had suggested that July 18– when Tamil Nadu got its present name following an Assembly legislation heralded by Dravidian veteran and late chief minister CN Annadurai, should be the day to be celebrated as the state’s formation day,” the CM had said.