Only 25 kin of tyagis attend grievances day meet

VELLORE: Around 25 relatives of freedom fighters attended the grievances day meeting for tyagis and their successors held at the Vellore Collectorate on Friday.

The meeting assumes importance in view of the TN Freedom Fighters and Successors Association announcing a boycott of the 75th Independence Day celebrations and the grievances meeting as there has been no response from officials to their repeated pleas on various issues.

Asked how freedom fighters relatives attended the grievances meeting despite the boycott call, association’s Vellore district secretary J Rajendra Babu said, “after the announcement, Vellore district officers ordered subordinate officials in various places to call on freedom fighters and convince them to attend the grievances day meeting.”

He said, “The Gudiyattam RDO came to my house on Thursday evening and requested to attend the meeting. He was very respectful. I told him that the boycott was based on deliberations by the association’s TN unit and that I cannot contravene it.”

Officials have also visited the houses of other members of the association in the district. In some places, they managed to convince freedom fighters’ successors to attend the meeting saying that it would not be good for them to antagonise officialdom as they have come to the same personnel for their petitions/needs in future, Rajendra Babu revealed.

“However, only around 25 turned up for the meet contrary to the usual 100 to 120 attendees,” he said.