Tyagi Ponnaiya Pillai passes away at 94 in Thoothukudi

Thoothukudi district had produced several prominent freedom fighters such as Subramaniya Bharathi, V.O.Chidambaram Pillai, Veerapandiya Kattabomman and so on. Apart from that incidents such as shooting of Collector Ash at Vanchimaniyachi by Vanchinathan that took place here has played crucial role in the freedom movement. 

Not only prominent leaders but many lesser known freedom fighters also had participated in the freedom struggle from Thoothukudi district. One such freedom fighter was Ponnaiya Pillai, from Thoothukudi. He had participated in various struggles against Britishers and had gone to prison on several occasions. 

In 1930 he had participated in the Civil Disobedience movement as an 8-year-old boy. He participated at the Salt Sathyagraha and had walked from Tiruchirappalli to Vedaranyam for which he was jailed for six months. Following that he was attracted more to Gandhian principles and remained attached to the Gandhian movement. 

Till his death, he remained as an ardent Gandhian. He had also participated at the Quit India movement at Tirunelveli and had gone to prison for a brief period. After independence, he had worked as an accountant at a private salt company at Thoothukudi and chose to stay away from limelight. He was a regular guest at the government functions conducted during Independence and Republic days. He was always spotted with Khadi dress which he wore till his death. For the last couple of months, he was unwell and was bedridden. 

Finally, he breathed his last on Sunday evening. Following that his last rites were performed on Monday evening. As he was away from limelight even the officials from district administration were not aware of his death and they did not possess any official information about the freedom fighter apart from his schooling which he had done at St Francis Xavier Higher Secondary School at Thoothukudi.