M. Bhaktavatsalam
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M. Bhakthavatsalam | |
---|---|
Madras Province | |
In office 24 March 1947 – 6 April 1949 | |
Chief Minister | Omanthur P. Ramaswamy Reddiar |
Personal details | |
Born | |
Resting place | Periyavar Bhakthavatsalam Ninaividam |
Political party | Indian National Congress |
Spouse | Gnanasundarambal |
Children | Sarojini Varadappan |
Occupation | Politician |
Minjur Bhakthavatsalam (9 October 1897 – 13 February 1987) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the
Bhaktavatsalam was born on 9 October 1897 in the
Early life
Bhaktavatsalam was born to C. N. Kanakasabhapathi Mudaliar and his wife Mallika
Indian Independence Movement
Bhaktavatsalam joined the
Bhaktavatsalam started the daily newspaper India which he managed till 1933. He was the Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Congress Civic Board during the district board and municipal elections of 1935 and 1926. He also served as the Secretary of the Madras Mahajana Sabha for sometime.
Bhaktavatsalam was injured during the
Quit India Movement
At the age of 40, Bhaktavatsalam entered the Madras Assembly successfully winning the Thiruvallur seat in 1937 election.
Bhaktavatsalam participated in the Quit India Movement agitations and was jailed by the British. On his release in 1944, he elected to the Constituent Assembly of India.
Indian independence and the Kamaraj era
Bhaktavatsalam stood in the Madras Assembly elections held in 1946 and was re-elected.[2] He served as the Minister of Public Works and Information in the O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar cabinet.[3] In the 1952 Assembly elections, the first in independent India, Bhaktavatsalam lost.[2] In 1957, he won the Sriperumbudur seat and entered the Assembly. He was appointed the Home Minister in the Kamaraj' cabinet and leader of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly House.
Chief Minister of Madras state
In 1962, the Indian National Congress won the
Construction of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial
In August 1963, M. S. Golwalkar, the Sarsangchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh established a Swami Vivekananda Centenary Committee and a Vivekananda Rock Memorial Committee and appointed Eknath Ranade as its secretary.[6] The main function of the committee was to construct a rock memorial at Kanyakumari in order to honour Swami Vivekananda on his birth centenary.[6] The Chief Minister Bhaktavatsam and the Union Minister for Cultural Affairs, Humayun Kabir vehemently opposed the move.[6] However, Bhaktavatsalam yielded when Ranade presented him a letter with signatures of 323 members of Parliament in support of a memorial.[6][7]
Anti Hindi imposition agitations
Bhaktavatsalam's tenure as Chief Minister witnessed severe anti-Hindi agitations in Madras state.[8] Bhaktavatsalam supported the Union Government's decision to introduce Hindi as compulsory language and rejected the demands to make Tamil the medium of instruction in colleges saying that it was "not a practical proposition, not in the interests of national integration, not in the interests of higher education, and not in the interests of the students themselves".[9] On 7 March 1964, at a session of the Madras Legislative Assembly, Bhaktavatsalam recommended the introduction of a three-language formula comprising English, Hindi and Tamil.[10][11]
As 26 January 1965, the day when the 15-year-long transition period recommended by the Indian Parliament came to an end, neared, the agitations intensified leading to police action and casualties.[11] Six of the agitators (Chinnasami, Sivalingam, Aranganathan, Veerappan, Mutthu, and Sarangapani) immolated themselves while three others (Dandapani, Mutthu, and Shanmugam) consumed poison. One of the agitators, eighteen-year-old Rajendran was killed on 27 January 1965 as a result of police firing.[9]
Criticism of Bhaktavatsalam's regime
On 13 February 1965, Bhaktavatsalam claimed that the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Left parties were responsible for the large scale destruction of public property and violence during the anti-Hindi agitations of 1965.[12]
In January 2015, E V K S Elangovan, the chief of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC), (whilst reacting to the news of Bhaktavatsalam's grand daughter Jayanthi Natarajan resigning from the congress), blamed Bhaktavatsalam for killing of many anti-Hindi protestors. Further, he also blamed Bhaktavatsalam for ending the distribution of subsidised rice in the PDS (started by K. Kamaraj), ending the golden rule of Kamraj in Tamil Nadu.[13]
Later life and death
Bhaktavatsalam died at the age of 89.[14] His tomb is situated next to Kamaraj tomb in Guindy.
Family
Bhaktavatsalam was related by marriage to some noted political families of
Books authored
- Bhaktavatsalam, M.; K. Perumal Udayar (1978). The Absurdity of Anti-Hindi Policy: M. Bhaktavatsalam Speaks on Language Issue. Perumal Udayar.
- Bhaktavatsalam, M. (1985). West Asia: Problems and Prospects. Stosius Inc/Advent Books Division. ISBN 0-86590-594-0.
Images
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Commemorative stamp
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Bhaktavatsalam memorial, Gandhi Mandapam (Chennai)
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Inside Bhaktavatsalam memorial
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A bust of Bhaktavatsalam
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An inscription for Bhaktavatsalam
Notes
- ^ a b B. S. Baliga (2000). Madras district gazetteers, Volume 12, Part 1. Government Press. p. 246.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-85131-15-3.
- ^ The Times of India Directory and Year Book, Including Who's who. Bennett, Coleman and Co. 1951. p. 725.
- ^ "List of Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu". Government of Tamil Nadu. Archived from the original on 23 April 2013.
- ^ Muthiah, S. (23 October 2002). "Playing host to wildlife". The Hindu: Metro Plus. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ ISBN 81-7648-465-2.
- ^ The 5 Hours and After. VIGIL. 1993. p. 58.
- ^ a b Varadappan, Sarojini (13 September 2003). "The Hindu and Me: 'I have one grievance'". Archived from the original on 19 November 2007.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ ISBN 0-520-20805-6.
- ^ Indian Recorder & Digest. Diwanchand Institute of National Affairs. 1964. p. 19.
- ^ a b Asian Recorder. K. K. Thomas. 1965. p. 6292.
- ^ Asian Recorder. K. K. Thomas. 1965. p. 6316.
- ^ Sivakumar, B (30 January 2015). "Congress will be stronger if two more people quit Congress along with Jayanthi, TNCC chief says". The Times of India. No. National. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
- ^ Asian Recorder. K. K. Thomas. 1987. p. 19479.
- ^ a b "I do not know what kind of magic Gandhiji had but people listened to him". Rediff News. 7 August 2002.
References
- "Biography: M.Bhaktavatsalam". Kamat Research Database. Kamat's Potpourri. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
- Bhaktavatsalan, Fifty Years of Public Life: Being a Commemoration Volume Issued on the Occasion of the Seventy-sixth Birth Day of Sri M. Bhaktavatsalam, Madras, October 1972. Kondah Kasi Seetharamon. 1972.