TIRUCHY: Tamil language activists and relatives of anti-Hindi agitation martyrs Keezhapazhuvur Chinnasamy and Viralimalai Shanmugam have renewed their demand to the state government to build a manimandapam (memorial) for them in Tiruchy, citing the city’s pivotal role in the 1960s language movement and the need for permanent public recognition of their sacrifice.
The demand comes amid complaints that the burial sites of the two, located 100m apart on Kulimikkarai Road in Alwarthoppu and maintained by the Tiruchy city corporation, lack even basic features.
Corporation sources said the burial sites were renovated in 2023 with roofing and fencing, but activists say the upgrades are cosmetic and that even interim measures such as their photographs, and notice boards explaining their role in the anti-Hindi agitation are missing. Tiruchy Mayor M Anbazhagan said action would be taken immediately.
Dravida Selvi, daughter of Chinnasamy told TNIE that Tiruchy was where her father immolated himself on January 25, 1964, an act that intensified the anti-Hindi agitation and galvanised youth participation across Tamil Nadu. “Tiruchy is where his final protest shook the movement,” she said.
R Manickam (87), elder brother of Shanmugam, said his brother consumed poison on February 23, 1965, amid rising tensions over the implementation of the Official Languages Act, and later died at the Tiruchy Government Hospital. “Tiruchy was not just the place of burial but the nerve centre of the agitation where sacrifices reignited the struggle,” he said.
Minister for Tamil Development Information and Publicity M P Saminathan told TNIE that appropriate decisions would be taken on the demands.