Tamil language crusader, Congress veteran Kumari Ananthan passes at 92

Veteran Congress leader and noted orator in Tamil, Kumari Ananthan — who fought for and succeeded in addressing Parliament in the Tamil language — has died, his family announced on Wednesday, 9 April.

He was 92 and he passed away around 12:15 a.m. today. Kumari Ananthan, a former president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC), is survived by a son and four daughters, including senior BJP leader and former governor of Telangana, Tamilisai Soundararajan.

Tamil Nadu governor R.N. Ravi, chief minister M.K. Stalin, leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan and other leaders visited Soundararajan's residence, laid wreaths on the body of the departed leader and conveyed their condolences to the bereaved family members.

In his condolence message, Stalin said Ananthan's death is a huge loss for Tamil society and announced government honours, with a state funeral, for the departed leader.

AIADMK chief Edappadi K. Palaniswami, TNCC chief K. Selvaperunthagai, Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai, state secretaries of the CPI and the CPI(M), respectively, R. Mutharasan and P. Shanmugam, MDMK chief Vaiko, PMK founder S. Ramadoss, DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakanth, AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran and Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam chief Vijay condoled Kumari Ananthan's death.

Selvaperunthagai said Ananthan had traversed a total of 5,548 km in his 17 padayatras to press for various demands and praised Ananthan as a great Gandhian.

The Tamil Nadu assembly too condoled the passing away of Ananthan and conveyed its condolences to the bereaved Tamilisai Soundararajan and to the Congress party.

After Speaker M. Appavu read out the condolence message, the members observed 2-minutes of silence as a mark of respect to the departed leader.

In his condolence message, Stalin praised Ananthan as a disciple of the Congress icon and former Tamil Nadu chief minister K. Kamaraj, who earned people's respect through his hard work and served the people as an MP once and four times as an MLA.

The chief minister said: "The credit for establishing the right to speak in Tamil in Parliament will go only to him."

The chief minister also recalled late DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi's praise for Ananthan in this regard.

Further, he said that Ananthan dedicated his life to serving the Tamil language and in order to honour him, the Tamil Nadu government conferred the Thagaisal Tamizhar (Eminent Tamilian) Award on him.

"He will be in our hearts," Stalin said and conveyed his condolences and sympathies to Ananthan's family members, including BJP’s Tamilisai Soundararajan and Congress party workers.

MDMK general secretary Vaiko showered praises on Ananthan for ensuring the right for MPs to speak in Tamil in Parliament and also for his struggle to add a Tamil version in application forms for postal money order and such.

Vaiko added that Ananthan had fought for a liquor ban all his life and hailed him as the 'thiyaga sudar (flame of sacrifice)', who followed in the footsteps of Kamaraj.

Born at Agastheeswaram in Kanyakumari district on 19 March 1933, Anathan was elected to Parliament from the Nagercoil constituency in 1977. Indeed, the 'Kumari' prefixed to his name is in reference to the Kanyakumari district.

He is well-known for his padayatras rooting for Kamaraj’s rule (the re-establishment of the Congress rule in Tamil Nadu) while propagating Gandhian ideals. Ilakiya selvar, which denotes profound knowledge in literature, was one of Ananthan's well-known sobriquets.

Tamilisai Soundararjan praised her father for his unblemished political career, his love for the Tamil language and his principled, disciplined life, with a journey that started from a small village in Kanyakumari.