The souvenir released by the Tamil Nadu government on July 18, observed as “Tamil Nadu Day,” is a treasure trove of information on the demand, which began much before the Independence, towards linguistic reorganisation of States and the renaming of Madras Presidency to Tamil Nadu.
The 255-page glossy souvenir includes all references to the words “Tamil” and “Tamil Nadu” in ancient literature, scanned copies of official documents, speeches made by leaders in the Assembly and Parliament, and essays.
The book starts with a letter from Chief Minister M.K. Stalin that explains the rationale behind observing July 18, the day when the resolution to rename the State was passed in 1967, as “Tamil Nadu Day.”
Along with the often cited line from Tholkappiyam that defines the boundary of Tamil-speaking land, the souvenir includes such references to Tamil and Tamil Nadu in literary texts such as Silappathikaram, Nannul, Manimekalai, Pathitru Pathu and Purananuru. The entire discussion that happened in the Assembly when then Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai introduced the resolution to rename the State in 1967, is presented in the book.
The discussion, which includes speeches from leaders such as Ma. Po. Sivagnanam and P. G. Karuthiruman, shows how all the leaders came together, irrespective of their political differences, to unanimously pass the resolution.
As a proof that the demand for linguistic reorganisation of States and renaming of Madras Presidency to Tamil Nadu was present long before the Independence, the book includes writings and speeches of various leaders from that period.
The first one is the writing of T.M. Nair, one of the founders of Justice Party, who felt the need for reorganisation of States before providing them autonomy.
The section “From Madras Presidency to Tamil Nadu” has essays detailing the demand and struggle towards renaming the State, including the “frontier struggles” to ensure that areas with a majority of Tamil-speaking population remained within the State and the sacrifice of Sankaralinganar, who fasted to death in 1956 for the demand to rename. The souvenir also has essays by different personalities exploring the idea of Tamil identity and culture.
