Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin, who is presently admitted to Kauvery Hospital, will be making a public appearance on Monday, July 18, when he would address a gathering at Kalaivanar Arangam to celebrate ‘Tamil Nadu Day,’ which is a commemoration of the naming of the State as Tamil Nadu way back in 1967.
The resolution to change the name of Madras Presidency to Tamil Nadu was moved in the Assembly on July 18, 1967, by the then Chief Minister C N Annadurai and there had been a popular demand to celebrate that day as ‘Tamil Nadu Day,’ an official press release said.
Since Tamil lovers, activists, organisations, scholars and political parties had wanted July 18 to be named as Tamil Nadu Day, Stalin had agreed to that and the government has now organized several functions in Chennai and also New Delhi in connection with that.
The events in Chennai will start at 9 am on Monday with the State Planning Commission deputy chairperson J Jeyaranjan presiding over a seminar in which topics like ‘History of the formation of Tamil Nadu,’ ‘Language based States and the struggle for it in Tamil Nadu,’ ‘The Martyrs who laid down their lives for Tamil Nadu,’ ‘The Leader who christened Tamil Nadu’ and ‘The modern Tamil Nadu created by M Karunanidhi.’
Winners of the elocution, poetry and essay competitions that were held for school and college students would be given away the prizes on the occasion when a slew of awards instituted by the Tamil Development Department for the year 2021 would also be distributed.
Antique artefacts unearthed from excavation sites like Keeladi, Adichanallur, Sivakalai, Mayiladuthurai and Kodumanal would be displayed on the occasion, along with old and historic documents of the Tamil Nadu Survey Department.
A souvenir containing the articles by scholars and others related to the history of the Tamil Nadu Day, the resolution passed in Assembly to change the name would be released as part of the celebrations and a sand art to commemorate the event would be installed on the Marina sands by noted sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik, an official press release said.
In Delhi, the celebrations will be inaugurated by the Tamil Nadu government’s special representative A K S Vijayan at the Tamil Nadu House, where winners of competitions will be presented prizes and art workshops and painting competitions will be conducted.
The screening of the Tamil film ‘Rocketry’ at 1.30 pm and 5.30 pm would also be a highlight of the events in Tamil Nadu House, where exhibitions will also be organized, an official release said.
