Declare Nov 1 as 'Tamil Sovereignty Day' says Thol Thirumavalavan

CHENNAI: VCK founder and chief Thol Thirumavalavan on Saturday called for November 1 to be celebrated as 'Tamil Sovereignty Day'

In a statement, he said that on Nov 1, 1956, all the states were divided based on their languages and while neighbouring states are taking pride and celebrating the day their states were formed, we should be doing the same.

"As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned it is not a newly formed state in terms of land area. When linguistic states were separated from TN, we lost a lot of land to neighbouring states. Though we cannot celebrate the loss with happiness, we can still take pride in the fact that the official demarcation of the state was done on this day," he said.

In 2006 when the golden jubilee of state formation day was celebrated, Thirumavalavan said that they had requested Kalaignar if they could celebrate a state day like neighbouring states.

However, Kalaignar replied saying how could it be celebrated as a happy occasion when the state has incurred loss.

"Though what he said is true and we cannot recover the lost land, the VCK will be declaring this day as 'Tamil Sovereignty Day' in an effort to recover the rights that were taken from us," he added.

Thirumavalavan said that Tamil Sovereignty Day is the day on which the Tamil Nadu people are committed to reclaim their rights that have been taken away by the central government.

"India is a federation of state government with its own powers. This was a decision made by our forefathers including Dr Ambedkar who drafted the constitution," he noted. However, he pointed out that on contrary to this, the state government has been violating the powers of the state.

He said that the BJP which was harping on about 'one country, one religion and one language' is now talking about 'one country, one election'.

"Their plan is to abolish state level political parties altogether and bring all the states under their control. So it is essential for us to reclaim our rights and create awareness among people about Tamil sovereignty," he said adding that on this day VCK pledges to protect the sovereignty of Tamils and restore the rights of the state.