CHENNAI: It is the duty of a good government to honour freedom fighters and eminent leaders, who toiled for the cause of social development, and to pay respects by constructing memorials in their honour for the younger generation to follow the ideals of these leaders,” Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said on an occasion.
She also said Tamil Nadu has the unique distinction of having many freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives, and martyrs who broke the shackles of slavery.
Walking the talk, whenever she assumed the office as Chief Minister, she established memorials for many leaders, including freedom fighters.
Jayalalithaa did so again after assuming the office of CM for the third time on May 16, 2011, by announcing memorials for many leaders and martyrs, including Colonel John Pennycuick, the late British engineer, who constructed the Mullaiperiyar dam. She laid the foundation for the memorial being constructed at Lower Camp in Theni district, at a cost of `1.25 crore recently.
During the just-concluded budget session, the CM announced that a Manimandapam would be constructed to honour Sankaralinganar, who died in 1956 while on an indefinite hunger strike to rename the erstwhile Madras State as Tamil Nadu.
On April 4, during the budget session, Jayalalithaa announced that a memorial would be built in honour of freedom fighter Dheeran Chinnamalai, one of the pioneers of the freedom struggle, at Sangagiri, where the Britishers hanged him.
On Dalit leader Rettaimalai Seenivasan’s birth anniversary on July 7 last year, the CM announced that the State government would observe it as an annual event. Following her announcement, Ministers, MPs and MLAs garlanded the statue of the late leader at Guindy.
On July 18 last year, Jayalalithaa inaugurated a memorial for freedom fighter Subramaniya Siva at Papparapatti in Dharmapuri district. The memorial was constructed at a cost of `40 lakh on an area of 85 cents.
On September 12 last year, the CM announced that memorials for freedom fighter Singaravelar and one of the leaders of the Dravidian movement, Jeevarathinam, both from the fishermen community, would be set up at Foreshore Estate and a statue of Chidambaranathan, who strove hard for the merger of Kanyakumari district with TN, would be installed in Kaliyakkavilai.