Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], November 1 : Actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party chief Vijay on Friday called for celebrating November 1 as Tamil Nadu Day.
In a post on X, Vijay emphasized that November 1 marks a day of remembrance for the sacrifices made by the "border fighters" who advocated for the integration of Tamil-speaking areas into Tamil Nadu.
"November 1 is the day when our state became a separate state geographically with the establishment of linguistic provinces in 1956. Martyr Shankaralingan went on a fast and gave up his life demanding that our state, which was Madras province, be renamed as Tamil Nadu. Bearing this in his heart, Kaniv's Thiruvuruvam Perunthagai Anna, when he came to power, passed a resolution in the Legislative Assembly and named it Tamil Nadu," the TVK chief said.
"Let us celebrate this day (November 1) when a separate state was born for Tamils as Tamil Nadu Day with historical memories," he added.
Notably, Tamil Nadu was initially created as Madras State on November 1, 1956, as part of a reorganization based on linguistic lines.
Sankaralinganar, a Tamil Independence activist, was imprisoned for six months in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) due to his involvement in the independence movement. He persistently urged the Congress party to fulfil his 12-point agenda, which included the primary demand of renaming 'Madras State' as 'Tamil Nadu.'
He ultimately fasted to death in his effort to see the state renamed as Tamil Nadu.
In 1967, a resolution was unanimously passed in the Madras State Legislative Assembly under the leadership of the then Chief Minister CN Annadurai, officially renaming the state as Tamil Nadu on July 18, 1967.