AIADMK attacks CM MK Stalin for changing Tamil Nadu Day to July 18; 'Unsuitable move'

The Opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Sunday attacked the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and slammed Chief Minister MK Stalin's announcement on changing the Tamil Nadu Day from November 1 to July 18, saying it smacked of 'political vendetta' and dubbed it an 'unsuitable move'. Reversing the previous AIADMK government's decision, Stalin had on Saturday said that the state's Formation Day will henceforth be celebrated on July 18 in line with the rechristening of its name to the present one, every year, and not on November 1. A government order will be issued soon for this purpose, he had said.

AIADMK attacks DMK for changing Tamil Nadu Day from November 1 to July 18

Speaking to the media, AIADMK Coordinator O Panneerselvam said that a child's birthday falls on the day it is born and not when it is given a name, referring to the ruling DMK's decision to alter the state's Formation Day in line with it getting the present name, i.e. Tamil Nadu.

Incidentally, though late chief minister CN Annadurai piloted an Assembly resolution on July 18, 1967 to rename Tamil Nadu from Madras State, it became a reality two years later, after the proposal went through the Parliament and the then central government issued a notification on the name change in 1968, saying it would come into effect from January 14, 1969.

"Going by the chief minister's reasoning, only 14-01-1969 should be celebrated as Tamil Nadu Day. A child's birthday should be celebrated on the day it is born ....," the former CM said in a party statement. Panneerselvam further said the birthday of a child, even if its name is officially changed 10 years after being born, is celebrated on the day of its birth and not the one on which the name change happened.

A building is also assumed to have been established on the day it is inaugurated and not when it was cleared at a proposal level, the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister added. "Similarly, the birthday of the child called Madras state was born on November 1, 1956, with the present landscape, which was decided to be renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1967 and one which happened in 1969, is still November 1, 1956." He added, "So the announcement on celebrating Tamil Nadu on July 18 will not be suitable by any means. It amounts to saying the state was born 11 years later than it did and is an attempt at rewriting history.... is the peak of political vendetta."

Panneerselvam cited the other states carved out of then Madras state celebrating their respective formation days on November 1 and urged CM Stalin to withdraw his government's decision to observe Tamil Nadu Day on July 18.

(With PTI inputs)

Image: PTI