Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna as known as C
N Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna , was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from the year 1967 - 1969 and was
also the first Dravidian party member to hold that post. Famously known for
issuing an order for the removal of the posters of gods and religious signs
from offices and buildings, Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna was born on this day in the year 1909. He died
in the year 1969 and did you know, his funeral was attended by over 15 million
people as per the Guinness Book of Records.
A post graduate in Economics and Politics, Kanjith
Thalaivar Arignar Anna had worked as an
English teacher in Pachaiyappa High School. He later quit this job to work as a
journalist
Being secular to the core, his attitude
towards religion was 'One race, One god'
Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna used to describe himself as a Hindu without
the sacred ash, a Christian sans the holy cross, and a Muslim without the
prayer cap
Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna was famous for attacking superstitions and
religious exploitation
He also served as a sub-editor of the Justice
magazine, editor for Viduthalai (Freedom) and was also associated with the
Tamil weekly paper, Kudi Arasu
He started his own journal called Dravida
Nadu
Anna severely attacked Brahmanism and 'Aryan'
values as the cause of Tamil political and national corruption
The founder of the Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam(DMK) party, Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna was also known as one of the best Tamil
orators India has ever had
He publicly opposed Hindi being recommended
as an official language of India. He believed that it would make the Tamils
second class citizens when compared to the Hindi speaking North Indians
According to Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna if Hindi should be "the common language
because it is spoken by the majority, why should we then claim the tiger as our
national animal instead of the rat which is so much more numerous? Or the
peacock as our national bird when the crow is ubiquitous?"
One of the best Tamil orators, Kanjith
Thalaivar Arignar Anna was known for
developing a unique style in Tamil public speaking using metaphors and
alliterations
He has published several novels, short
stories and plays based on political themes
Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna also acted in some of his plays during his
time
Some of his well-known works include Annavin
Sattasabai Sorpolivukal (Anna's speeches at the state legislative), Ilatchiya
varalaru (History of Principles), Valkkaip puyal (Storm of life) and Rankon
rata (Radha from Rangon)
Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna legalised Self-respect marriages for the first
time in the country. Self-respect marriages promoted the idea that priests and
Brahmins were not needed to carry out a wedding
Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna renamed Madras state to Tamil Nadu.
Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna was born in a middle class family. Natarajan
and Bangaru Ammal are his parents. His sister named Rajamani Ammal raised him
and he married Rani when he was a student at the age of 21.
They had no children. He did his schooling in
Pachaiappa’s High school and finished his degree in
Pachaiappa’s college in Chennai. Then he joined as an English teacher
in Pachaiappa’s High school. In the middle, he left his job and
involved in politics.
Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna was an excellent writer in Tamil.
He had
acted in many plays. Some of them were made into movies. He was a strict
follower of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy.
Later he started his own political party
named Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The Madras anti-Hindi agitation of 1965 made
him very popular.
Self-respect marriages were legalized by him.
He converted the name of Madras state into Tamil Nadu
Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna entered into politics and joined the Justice
Party.
Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna worked as a sub-editor in Justice Magazine and
later he became the editor in Viduthalai.
Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna launched his own journal named Dravida Nadu.
Justice party was renamed as Dravida Kazhagam by Periyar in 1944.
Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna served as the Member of Parliament in the year
1962-1967. He won in the State Legislative Assembly election of 1967 and became
the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
Anna received the award of Chubb Fellowship
at Yale University and received the Doctorate award on the same year from
Annamalai University. Due to cancer, he died on 3<sup>rd</sup>
February 1969.
Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna centenary library was placed in Chennai in
memory of C. N. Kanjith Thalaivar Arignar Anna and he was buried in Marina Beach. This place
is known as Anna Square. Anna Nagar and Anna Salai are the places in Chennai
which were named after him
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