VELLORE: The 95th birthday celebrations of noted parliamentarian and freedom fighter Era Sezhiyan will be held at Hotel Palm Grove in Chennai on Friday. Many politicians, journalists and other VIPs are expected to participate to felicitate the nonagenarian on the occasion.
Born on April 28, 1923 in Thanjavur district, Sezhiyan is one of the oldest politicians from the Dravidian era. A keen observer of TN politics for close to seven decades, he became a Lok Sabha member before the age of 40. A powerful writer, Sezhiyan has recaptured the history of the Dravidian movement and how it has served or failed the State.
The former DMK MP, who later joined the Janata Dal, is one of those who fought the Emergency in his own quiet way and helped “resurrect” the virtually lost Shah Commission report on the ‘Emergency excesses’. He belongs to the generation of leaders such as Morarji Desai, Jayaprakash Narayan, Vajpayee, Somnath Chatterjee and the like.
Impressed by the Dravidian ideologies, he associated himself with the Dravida Kazhagam founded by Periyar. Later, he joined the DMK when former chief minister Arignar Anna floated the party.
Sezhiyan, in addition to being a powerful speaker is a well-known bi-lingual writer. After exiting from politics, he joined VIT university as an honorary professor and continues service as an academician. His birthday function would be presided over by VIT chancellor G Viswanathan.