Tamil Nadu: DMK group leader Trichy Siva said in the Rajya Sabha that it is the central government’s duty to bring to light the countless Tamils who have been hidden from the history of India’s independence.
Speaking during a special debate in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, marking the 150th anniversary of the Vande Mataram song, he said: Do people in the northern states know about V.O. Chidambaram, Bharathiyar, or Veerapandiya Kattabomman, just as freedom fighters like Tilak and Subhas Chandra Bose, who fought in the northern states, are celebrated in Tamil Nadu?
The DMK is a regional party. But it has never abandoned those who fought for national liberation. It has never failed to recognize them. The slogan ‘Velliyane Quit India’ raised by Poolithevan, who ruled the Nerkattumseval principality, became the ‘Quit India’ slogan of the 1942 movement. Veerapandiya Kattabomman, who came after him, was the leader of the struggle that you call the ‘Varikoda movement’. He was born in 1760 and hanged in 1799.
Minister Murugan and you, Mr. Speaker, know how many times Velu Nachiyar, who ruled Sivaganga, drove away the British with the help of Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali. But does Minister Pralhad Joshi from my neighboring state even know this?
You talk about Rani Lakshmibai, but you don’t know about Kuyili, Velu Nachiyar, the Maruthu brothers, and Theeran Chinnamalai.
Do they even know about the freedom fighter Padmasini? Do they know about Shenbagaraman Pillai, Netaji’s predecessor? History has been written by concealing facts. Correct it and write it properly. Please include them in the Central Board of Secondary Education textbooks and fulfill your duty properly, Trichy Siva said.
