Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay announced on Saturday that the State government would celebrate both November 1, the day the erstwhile Madras State came into being, and July 18, the day former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai moved a resolution in the Assembly to rename the State as ‘Tamil Nadu’.

“Let us pledge to make Tamil Nadu, the birthplace of the classical Tamil language nurtured by the Tamil Sangams, the number one State in education, technology, and human development,” he said on social media. “May the sweetness of Tamil, the rich culture of the Tamils, and the spirit of humanism flourish for generations to come,” he added.

Anbumani’s request

A few days ago, Pattali Makkal Katchi leader Anbumani Ramadoss urged the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam-led government to declare November 1 as Tamil Nadu Day instead of July 18. When the AIADMK was in power, the then Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced that November 1 would be celebrated as Tamil Nadu Day. However, after the DMK came to power in 2021, it changed the observance to July 18.

The then Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said his government had decided to change the date following representations from several political parties, Tamil scholars, and enthusiasts. They argued that the erstwhile composite States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala were carved out of the erstwhile Madras State between 1953 and 1956. Since the present-day State came into being on November 1, 1956, they contended that it would not be appropriate to observe that date as Tamil Nadu Day.

Linguistic Martyrs’ Day

In a social media post, former Minister Thangam Thennarasu said November 1 could not be celebrated as Tamil Nadu Day because it had lost a great deal when States were reorganised along linguistic lines. That had been the argument advanced by Tamil scholars, he said. Mr. Stalin had announced that November 1 would instead be commemorated as Linguistic Martyrs’ Day to honour those who laid down their lives in the struggle to protect Tamil Nadu’s territorial boundaries, he added.