S. Satyamurti
S. Satyamurti | |
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Madras, Madras Presidency , British India | |
Occupation(s) | Politician, lawyer |
'Sundara Sastri Satyamurti (19 August 1887
Born in 1887 in Thirumayam in the
Satyamurti participated in protests against the Partition of Bengal, Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the Simon Commission. Satyamurti was jailed in 1942 for his activities during the Quit India Movement. He was later released, but died on 28 March 1943, due to heart failure.
Satyamurti was the President of the provincial wing of the
Early life
S. Satyamurti was born at Tirumayam in Pudukkottai state on 19 August 1887. At school he was a fine and diligent student, characteristics which he carried on into his political career. He graduated from Madras Christian College and later went on to practice law as an advocate before entering in the nationalist movement. He entered politics at an early age, winning college elections and eventually emerging as one of the foremost leaders of the Indian National Congress and a doyen of the freedom movement. In 1919, when the Congress decide to send its representative to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (of the UK) to protest the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms and the Rowlatt Act, 32-year-old Sathyamurthi was chosen as a delegate.[2] When in Britain, he functioned as the London Correspondent of The Hindu, in place of the actual Correspondent who had taken a 10-day leave of absence.[citation needed] He was known for his honesty, his integrity, his belief in racial, communal and religious harmony and equality, and his firm belief in constitutional government and parliamentary democracy in India, which led him to take a view opposed to Gandhi's which in the 1920s was not for participating in the colonial legislature. He was also noted to be strongly opposed to the Caste System in Hinduism.[citation needed]
Political life
Satyamurti joined the Indian National Congress when he was a young man. At the time the party advocated racial equality between Europeans and Indians of all creeds and castes. They demanded
Satyamurti was one of the leading lights of the Swarajists who laid the foundation for parliamentary democracy in India, the others being Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru. It required extraordinary courage of conviction to take a view opposed to Gandhi, who had captivated the entire nation, which in the 1920s was not for participating in legislative politics. But, it was left to the people like Satyamurti, Das and Motilal Nehru to project the need for acquiring experience in legislature. Therefore, though Gandhi did not approve of the objective of the Swarajists, he did not stop them from pursuing their own path.[citation needed]
It was due to Satyamurti's efforts in the legislature that the Congress won the 1937 elections to the Madras Legislative Assembly.[citation needed]
When Satyamurti became the Mayor of Madras in 1939, World War II had begun. The city of Madras was in the grip of an acute water scarcity and it was left to him to impress upon the British Government and colonial Governor the importance of agreeing to the proposal of Madras Corporation for building a reservoir in Poondi, about 50 km west of the city, to augment the water supply, especially in light of catastrophic global events namely the Second World War. In those days, the tenure of Mayorship was only for a year but due to his efforts, diplomacy in dealing with the British Governor, and his administrative abilities, the foundation stone for the reservoir was laid in a matter of eight months. Though Satyamurti was not alive to see the commissioning of the reservoir in 1944, the completion of the work in four years is considered, even by today's standards, something that is difficult to match. Even now, the Poondi reservoir is the only reservoir built purely for the purpose of Madras water requirements.
Political mentor
Satyamurti is also remembered today as the political mentor of
Champion of the arts
Satyamurti was instrumental in the setting up of the Music Academy of Madras. As President of the Faculty of Fine Arts,
When E. Krishna Iyer championed the revival of
In earlier years, he had been an accomplished stage actor in classic drama, playing the title role in Manohara, a didactic historical play. Satyamurti was elected President of South Indian Film Chambers in 1937 and 1938, and was invited to preside over the All India Motion Picture Congress at Bombay in 1939.[6]
Arrests and death
Like many other prominent Indian patriots, Satyamurti was arrested and incarcerated numerous times by the British. He was arrested in 1930 while trying to hoist the Indian flag atop
Satyamurti is the uncle of Professor Bala V. Balachandran, founder and Dean of Great Lakes Institute of Management, a business school located in Chennai. Satyamurti's daughter Lakshmi Krishnamurti (1925–2009) was a popular politician and author who served in the Madras Legislative Council.[citation needed]
Honours
Satyamurti's work led to him being called Dheerar.
References
- ^ Glimpses of a great leader's life,22 August 2006. The Hindu. Retrieved on 10 December 2018.
- ^ Lakshmi Krishnamurti (13 September 2003) A born freedom-fighter and his close ties. The Hindu.
- ^ PM releases commemorative coins in honour of Kamaraj. Press Information Bureau, India. 27 October 2004.
- ^ Address of Tamil Nadu State Congress from Tamil Nadu State Congress website
- ^ "S. Satyamurti". Rajyasabha.nic.in. Retrieved on 10 December 2018.
- ^ S. Sankaranarayanan (August 2013) "S. Satyamurti, Patriot and Promoter of the Arts". Sruti pp. 34–5.
- ^ The Life and Times of Sathyamurthy. Chennai Online
- ^ August 2010. The Hindu (6 December 2018). Retrieved on 2018-12-10.
- ^ Tamilnadu postal circle – stamps. Tamilnadupost.nic.in. Retrieved on 10 December 2018.
- ^ a b "President unveils statues of eminent leaders". The Hindu. 1 October 2002. Archived from the original on 13 January 2016.
- ^ "PARLIAMENT HOUSE ESTATE".
- ^ "Portraits Installed In Central Hall, Parliament House". Archived from the original on 16 October 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
Further reading
- ISBN 81-7003-090-0
- R. Parthasarathi, S. Satyamurti, New Delhi, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India (1979).
- P. Ramamurti, ed., Mr. President Sir: parliamentary speeches of S. Satyamurti, Madras, Satyamurti Foundation, (c1988).
- Alice Thorner, Ideals, images, and real lives: women in literature and history, Sameeksha Trust (Bombay, India)