Within the intricate fabric of India’s independence struggle lie the tales of unsung heroes, their deeds buried in the sands of time. One such hero is Thiyagi Bettaiyan, of Annur, an agricultural town not far from Coimbatore city.
Having been inspired by the freedom movement at an early age, Srinivasa Thiyagi (1923-2002), popular known as Bettaiyan (meaning hunter), was a boy when he played a role in getting Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who was visiting Madras, to travel to Sokkampalayam village in Annur. Bettaiyan convinced Tiruppur Subrahmanya Avinashilingam Chettiar, a prominent freedom fighter and former Education Minister of the Madras Presidency, who used to frequent Annur, to give consent for his joining a delegation travelling to Madras. While in Madras, Bettaiyan met Gandhi and pleaded with him to visit his native place.
