CHENNAI: The State government on Saturday announced that the works of former minister K Anbazhagan, one of the stalwarts of the Dravidian movement, would be nationalised. Chief Minister MK Stalin will present the compensation for nationalising Anbazhagan’s works to his kin on Sunday (December 19), the day which marks his birth centenary.
An official release here said the CM would unveil a statue of Anbazhagan at the Integrated Finance Complex at Nandanam, and would rename the complex as Professor K Anbazhagan complex to commemorate the commencement of the late leader’s centenary year.
Anbazhagan, who was born on December 19, 1922, at Kattur village in Thiruvarur district, was attracted by the ideals of Periyar EV Ramasamy and Arignar CN Annadurai. During his school days, he had a passion for Tamil literature. It was this love for the language that made him change his name to K Anbazhagan, from his birth name of K Ramaiah. After serving as an assistant professor of Pachaiyappa’s College in Chennai between 1944 and 1957, he engaged himself totally in the Dravidian movement.
Anbazhagan has also served as a member of the Legislative Council from 1962, as an MP between 1967 and 1971, and as a member of the State Legislature for nine terms. During these terms, he had held the portfolios of Health, Social Welfare, and Finance in successive governments. He was also the general secretary of the DMK for a very long time. From 1948, Anbazhagan authored over 40 books on the Dravidian movement and related subjects.
Meanwhile, in his letter to the party cadre, Stalin recalled the contributions of Anbazhagan to the Dravidian movement for many decades, how the late leader had guided him in his political career, and his close association with former chief minister M Karunanidhi.
Stalin said Anbazhagan had travelled across Tamil Nadu, met the youth, and remained a mobile intellectual unit of the DMK during the early days of his political career. Honouring his contributions to the movement, Karunanidhi had named the library at the party headquarters after Anbazhagan. Stalin also exhorted the party cadre to celebrate the centenary year in a grand manner.