Indian politician
Si. Balasubramania Athithan
(also known as
Si. Ba. Adithanar
) 27 September 1905 ? 24 May 1981), popularly called"
Adithanar
", was an Indian lawyer, politician, minister and founder of the
Tamil
daily newspaper
Dina Thanthi
. He was the founder of the We Tamils (
Tamil
:
???? ??????
) party. He served as a member of the
Madras Legislative Council
for two terms and as a member of the
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
for four terms. He was the
Speaker of the Assembly
during 1967?68 and Tamil Nadu's minister for Cooperation in the
M. Karunanidhi
cabinets of 1969 and 1971. In his memory, two Tamil literary awards were created and are awarded annually by his son,
Sivanthi Adithanar
( former Director of the
Dina Thanthi
group).
Early life
[
edit
]
Adithanar was born on 27 September 1905 at
Kayamozhi
in
Tiruchendur
Taluk of
Tuticorin
district to Sivanthi Adithanar and Kanagam Ammayar as the heir of the Adityans, the highest aristocratic family among the
Nelamaikkarars
.
[1]
His father, Sivanthi Adithanar, was a lawyer. Adithan' sister, Vamasundari Devi, was mother of Indian businessman
Shiv Nadar
.
[2]
He completed his schooling at
Srivaikuntam
and joined
St. Joseph's College, Trichy
. After obtaining a
M. A
, he went to
Middle Temple
, London to study law. He became a
barrister
in 1933 and practised in Singapore (during 1933?42) and later in his home town Srivaikuntam. He married Govindammal in 1933.
[3]
[4]
[5]
Publishing career
[
edit
]
Adithan returned to India in 1942 when
Singapore fell
to the Japanese. He established a Tamil weekly magazine,
Tamizhan
, and a daily newspaper,
Thanthi
, in November 1942. He set out to found a Tamil daily along the lines of the English tabloid
Daily Mirror
, inspired by the
Mirror
'
s reach of a large audience. He established
Dina Thanthi
(lit. The Daily Telegraph) from
Madurai
in 1942 and it went on to become the flagship of his newspaper business. He expanded operations by opening additional editions in
Tirunelveli
,
Madras
,
Salem
and
Tiruchirapalli
in the 1940s. By bringing out local editions,
Dina Thanthi
helped deliver news on the same day to the people in southern districts of Tamil Nadu, who until then had to read day-old newspapers printed in
Madras
.
[6]
The paper was popular and it was said that people learned to read the
Tamil language
to read the newspaper.
[7]
The simplified language introduced by the paper helped it gain new readership.
[8]
Other publications from Adithan's
Dina Thanthi
group include the evening daily
Maalai Murasu
(lit. The Evening Drum), the weekly magazine
Rani
and the monthly novel imprint
Rani Muthu
.
[4]
Political career
[
edit
]
Adithan started the "Tamil Rajyam" party in 1942. During 1947?52, he was a member of the
Madras Legislative Council
. He contested and won the
1952 election
from
Tiruchendur
as a candidate of
T. Prakasam
's
Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party
.
[9]
He was elected as an independent candidate in the
1957 election
from
Sathankulam
.
[4]
[10]
Naam Tamilar party
[
edit
]
In 1958, Adithan founded the "We Tamils" (
???? ?????? ?????
) party with the platform of forming a sovereign Tamil state. It wanted the creation of a homogeneous
Greater Tamil Nadu
incorporating Tamil-speaking areas of India and
Sri Lanka
. The party's headquarters was named Tami?a? Illam (lit. The Home of the Tamilian). In 1960, the party organised statewide protests for the secession of Madras and the establishment of a sovereign Tamil Nadu. The protests were marked by the burning of maps of India (with Tamil Nadu left out). Adithanar was arrested for organising them. The party along with
M. P. Sivagnanam
's
Tamil Arasu Kazhagam
was also involved in the movement to change the name of the state from
Madras State
to
Tamil Nadu
.
[11]
Adithan lost the
1962 election
from Tiruchendur
[12]
and was elected to the Legislative Council in 1964.
[5]
The WT contested the
1967 election
as an ally of the
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(DMK) under the DMK's "Rising Sun" symbol. It elected four members to the Assembly, including Adithan, who won from
Srivaikuntam
. The party merged with the DMK in 1967.
[4]
[13]
[14]
As Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
[
edit
]
On 17 March 1967, Adithan became the
speaker of the assembly
defeating the
Swatantra Party
candidate K. S. Kothandaramiah, by 153 votes to 21. While he was the speaker he attended the DMK political conference held at
Tanjore
in 1968 and also took part in political activities in his constituency. Due to these activities, the opposition parties accused him of partisanship. He defended himself as:
[15]
I am as much as a politician as leader of the opposition is and as such, I can not refrain myself from the party activities of the DMK with whose support and under whose symbol I have been elected to the Assembly. But it does not mean that I am partial and partisan.
Due to this controversy, Adithan resigned as speaker on 12 August 1968.
As minister
[
edit
]
Adithan became the Minister for Cooperation in the
M. Karunanidhi
cabinet, which took power in February 1969. He was re-elected from Srivaikuntam in the
1971 elections
and continued as the Minister for Cooperation.
[4]
[16]
Later political life
[
edit
]
The DMK split in 1972, with
M. G. Ramachandran
forming the
Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(ADMK). Adithan supported the ADMK.
[6]
He contested and lost the
1977 election
[17]
as an ADMK supported independent from
Sathankulam
.
[18]
He also lost the
1980 election
from Srivaikuntam.
[19]
Electoral performance in Assembly elections
[
edit
]
Year
|
Status
|
Constituency
|
Party
|
Votes
|
Runner-up/winner
|
Party
|
Votes
|
1957
|
Winner
|
Sathankulam
|
IND
|
33,636
|
S. Kandasamy
|
INC
|
22,429
|
1962
|
2nd
|
Tiruchendur
|
Naam Tamilar
|
27,994
|
M. S. Selvarajan
|
INC
|
39,994
|
1967
|
Winner
|
Srivaikuntam
|
DMK
|
41,828
|
R. Nadar
|
INC
|
22,767
|
1971
|
Winner
|
Srivaikuntam
|
DMK
|
37,329
|
R. A. R. Annamalai
|
NCO
|
27,724
|
1977
|
2nd
|
Sathankulam
|
IND
|
17,507
|
R. Jebamani
|
JNP
|
18,362
|
1980
|
3rd
|
Srivaikuntam
|
IND
|
12,119
|
E. Ramasubramanian
|
ADMK
|
26,502
|
Death and legacy
[
edit
]
Adithan died on 24 May 1981. In 2005, the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister,
J. Jayalalitha
announced that his home in Srivaikuntam, built in 1928, would be converted into a memorial. He is survived by two sons. B. Ramachandran Adityan (founder of
Devi Weekly
) and B. Sivanthi Adityan.
[20]
[21]
On his birthday every year, the
S. P. Adithanar Senior Tamil Scholar Award
of Rs. 300,000 and the
S. P. Adithanar Literary Award
of Rs. 200,000 are awarded to Tamil scholars and people who excel in literature by Adithanar's son and the current director of the
Dina Thanthi
group,
Sivanthi Adithan
.
[7]
A road in
Chennai
, connecting
Egmore
to
Anna Salai
, was named "Adithanar Salai" in his memory.
[22]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Tami?p P?raracu
(lit. The Tamil empire) (1942)
- Idhalalar Kaiyedu
(lit. The Journalist's Handbook)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Robert Hardgrave.
The of Tamil Nadu
. University of California Press. p. 149.
- ^
Harish Damodharan (16 September 2008).
India's New Capitalists: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation
. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 191.
ISBN
978-0-230-20507-9
.
- ^
"Memorials coming up for Adithanar, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Aiyangar"
.
The Hindu
. 28 September 2005. Archived from
the original
on 5 December 2007.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Tamilar Thanthai Si Pa Adithanar"
.
Maalai Malar
(in Tamil). 10 April 2009. Archived from the original on 29 April 2009.
{{
cite news
}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link
)
- ^
a
b
Kaliyaperumal, M (1992).
The office of the speaker in Tamilnadu : A study
(PDF)
. Madras University. pp. Appendices. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 24 February 2012
. Retrieved
7 January
2010
.
- ^
a
b
Jeffrey, Robin
(24 March 2000).
India's newspaper revolution
. C. Hurst & Co. p. 79,80,114,135.
ISBN
978-1-85065-383-7
.
- ^
a
b
"Adithanar awards for Tamil scholar, poet"
.
The Hindu
. 24 September 2004. Archived from
the original
on 14 October 2004.
- ^
"Adithanar 100: A Tribute"
.
www.thinnai.com
(in Tamil). 15 January 2004.
- ^
1951/52 Madras State Election Results, Election Commission of India
Archived
10 April 2009 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
1957 Madras State Election Results, Election Commission of India
- ^
Ramaswamy, Sumathy (1997).
Passions of the tongue: language devotion in Tamil India, 1891?1970
.
University of Chicago Press
. pp. Chapter.6.
ISBN
978-0-520-20805-6
.
OCLC
36084635
.
- ^
1962 Madras State Election Results, Election Commission of India
- ^
Ross Barnett, Marguerite (1975).
Electoral politics in the Indian states: party systems and cleavages
. Manohar Book Service. p. 86.
- ^
1967 Tamil Nadu Election Results, Election Commission of India
- ^
Kaliyaperumal, M (1992).
The office of the speaker in Tamilnadu : A study
(PDF)
. Madras University. pp. 92?96. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 21 July 2011.
- ^
1971 Tamil Nadu Election Results, Election Commission of India
- ^
1977 Tamil Nadu Election Results, Election Commission of India
- ^
"AIADMK hopes to benefit from local grievances"
.
The Hindu
. 24 February 2003. Archived from the original on 3 April 2003.
{{
cite news
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
1980 Tamil Nadu Election Results, Election Commission of India
- ^
"Memorials coming up for Adithanar, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Aiyangar"
.
The Hindu
. 28 September 2005. Archived from
the original
on 5 December 2007.
- ^
"Officials inspect Adithanar's house at Srivaikundam"
.
The Hindu
. 29 September 2005. Archived from
the original
on 4 November 2012.
- ^
"A tough ride for MTC buses on Adithanar Salai"
.
The Hindu
. 28 February 2001. Archived from
the original
on 7 November 2012.