Latest news with #VedaranyamSaltSatyagraha
Time of India
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Only Congress can save country from communal politics: TNCC chief
Trichy: Promising to make the Congress party the 'foremost' in the country again, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K Selvaperunthagai said only Congress could save the country from the fascist and communal regime. Taking part in the celebration of the 95th anniversary of Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha in Vedaranyam on Wednesday, Selvaperunthagai joined Gandhians and party functionaries on the reenactment of the march. The reenactment concluded with the breaking of the British salt law before the Salt Satyagraha memorial pillar at Agasthiyampalli. Addressing the gathering, Selvaperunthagai said, "We (INC) have fought for the nation's independence. However, those who betrayed the independence movement are mocking us today." Calling Congress is in a 'helpless' state now, Selvaperunthagai said the party needs to gain strength to protect the nation. "BJP is dividing people on the basis of religion for vote and electoral politics and decides who can exist and who cannot. Congress, however, is working to ensure that the country belongs to all people," he said. "Authorities now demolish the houses of minorities, drives them out of home and asks them to go to Pakistan. Muslims were interwoven in the Independence Movement. India did not get freedom without their contribution," he said. After targeting the assets of Muslims and Christians, BJP is targeting the properties of Congress members, he added. Mayiladuthurai MP R Sudha, MLA Ruby R Manoharan, former MPs K V Thangkabalu and P V Rajendran joined Selvaperunthagai during the event.
The Hindu
30-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Congress leaders pay tributes to Salt Satyagraha martyrs in Vedaranyam
To mark the 95th anniversary of Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha, Congress leaders, party workers, and social activists paid homage to freedom fighters by symbolically collecting salt at the memorial pillar in Agasthiyampalli on Wednesday. The Salt Satyagraha at Vedaranyam, led by C. Rajagopalachari on April 30, 1930, was a defining moment in India's struggle for independence against the British-imposed salt tax. Freedom fighter Sardar Vedarathnam of Nagapattinam played a key role in the success of the movement. The anniversary is commemorated every year on April 30 by reenacting the act of collecting salt as a tribute to those who took part in the civil disobedience campaign. As part of the observance, the Salt Satyagraha Memorial Rally, led by Sakthi Selvaganapathy which began on Rajaji Memorial Hall in Tiruchi, culminated in Vedaranyam on April 28. The marchers observed a day-long fast and assembled at the Salt Satyagraha Memorial Building in Vedaranyam on Tuesday for the commemorative event. This year's remembrance event was presided over by former MP P.V. Rajendran at the Salt Satyagraha Memorial in Agasthiyampalli. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K. Selvaperunthagai, former Union Minister K.V. Thangkabalu, Mayiladuthurai MP R. Sudha, and A. Vedarathnam, trustee of the Kasturba Gandhi Kanya Gurukulam, addressed the gathering. Earlier in the day, participants took out a padayatra from the Salt Satyagraha memorial on North Street to the commemorative pillar at Agasthiyampalli. Mr. Selvaperunthagai, while speaking to reporters, said that the Salt Satyagraha was a turning point in India's freedom movement and stressed the vital role of Muslims in securing independence.
Time of India
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
95 years later, the Salt March lives on in Tamil Nadu, but the memory slips away
Every April 13 for the past 25 years, D. Sakthi Selvaganapathi, a horologist from Tiruvarur, makes his way to the Trichy cantonment. There, he joins fellow Gandhians for a 240 km salt march, reenacting the historic Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha led by freedom fighter C. Rajagopalachari 95 years ago. Gandhians across Tamil Nadu have been reenacting the march for the past 60 years, says Selvaganapathi, ever since the 25th anniversary of the original walk. "The reenactment is a reminder of breaking the salt law imposed by the British," says the 71-year-old, who represents the Trichy-Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha Dandi Yatra committee. "We continue to campaign against caste discrimination and alcoholism, advocate for literacy, and promote khadi, all causes that the Satyagrahis fought for in 1930." On March 12, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi led about 78 volunteers on a 387 km walk from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to the coastal village of Dandi in Navsari district as part of the Civil Disobedience Movement. On April 6, at Dandi beach, Gandhi broke the salt law by boiling seawater to produce salt. Later, Rajagopalachari, President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, began a 240 km march to Vedaranyam to replicate Gandhi's protest. On April 13, 1930, 98 Satyagrahis started their journey from Dr T. S. S. Rajan's residence near Trichy Cantonment. The marchers walked through Srirangam, Kallanai, Thanjavur, Papanasam, Kumbakonam, Needamangalam, Mannargudi, and Thiruthuraipoondi, campaigning against caste discrimination and promoting national integration and social harmony. Despite threats of imprisonment from Thanjavur district collector J. A. Thorne, people in every village and town supported them. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Google Brain Co-Founder Andrew Ng, Recommends: Read These 5 Books And Turn Your Life Around Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List Undo "The sun did not rise over the Bay of Bengal on April 30 when CR and 16 fellow marchers set out towards Edanthevar salt swamp, a couple of miles from Vedaranyam camp. Almost immediately after they reached the swamp, they bent and picked up some salt," writes Rajmohan Gandhi, author of the biography 'Rajaji, a Life'. Rajagopalachari was immediately arrested. A trial was conducted at a salt shed (now the office of the salt commission in Agasthiyampalli). A judge sentenced Rajagopalachari to six months of rigorous imprisonment in Trichinopoly central prison. Following Rajagopalachari, hundreds of people defied the salt law in the following month and were arrested. Every year, the Gandhians and Congress cadres dressed in khadi and carrying Indian flags from across Tamil Nadu reenact the march with a symbolic start at the same point near Trichy cantonment. The villagers of Vedaranyam and a group named Salt Satyagraha Reenactment Marchers Reception Committee welcome the reenactors as they arrive at Vedaranyam on April 28. The following day, the group holds a fast and sings songs of national devotion at the Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha memorial, even spinning yarn on charkas. On April 30, the Gandhians garland busts of Vedaranyam's freedom fighters such as A. Vedaratnam, K. Vairappan, and V. Subbaiya, and grab handfuls of salt and raise slogans in front of the salt march memorial pillar in Agasthiyampalli where the salt laws were broken. "We are doing this in the hope that the younger generations will not forget," says Selvaganapathi. "Today's generation is not aware of the significance of the Vedaranyam Satyagraha," says 'Pookadai' T. Panneerselvam, a florist from Trichy and representative of the Salt Satyagraha Awareness Committee. "Though we Gandhians have been keeping the spirit of the Satyagraha alive with the reenactment, the govt too needs to promote awareness. The govt could develop memorials that educate people on this movement," says the 61-year-old. P. V. Rajendran, a representative of the Salt Satyagraha Reenactment Marchers Reception Committee, says names of Satyagrahis should be inscribed in memorials as people only know about Rajaji. "We can have sound and light shows at the memorials to educate students about it." Many historical sites associated with the movement are now dilapidated, says Selvaganapathi. "Dr T. S. S. Rajan's house in Trichy and the historic buildings in Vedaranyam where the Satyagrahis were detained and tried after the salt march need renovation." The family of Sardar Vedaratnam, who was one of the main figures of the Vedaranyam march, has been demanding statues of the freedom fighters for years now. "We have been petitioning the Union govt to rename Agasthiyampalli Railway Station as 'Salt Satyagraha Agasthiyampalli Railway Station' and Vedaranyam Railway Station as 'Sardar Vedaratnam Vedaranyam Railway Station' for a few years now," says his 74-year-old grandson A. Vedarathinam.
