From K.R. to Avvai Natarajan! Stalin’s government honored every talented writer

Chennai: It was a British-era law that 'the state honored' only those who were in power'. The practice changed after India became independent. A new system of 'state honor' has been introduced for those who have worked for the betterment of society by changing the norm of those who were in power.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has deepened the boundaries of 'state honor'. He had introduced a new practice to the country which the World of Tamil Literature has not yet known.

When Karisalkattu writer K Rajanarayanan passed away, Chief Minister Stalin announced that his body would be buried with 'state honors'. This is not a new practice. Stalin's government implemented this long ago.

Notably, when actor Sivaji Ganesan passed away, he was accorded state honors. Similarly, a few years ago, the body of the late actor Vivek was buried with state honors. No wonder the film industry in Tamil Nadu is being given this honor.

The Indian government also has the same kind of procedure. When actress Sridevi passed away, the entire country was plunged into mourning. The government also gave her the respect she deserved. Similarly, singer Lata Mangeshkar, KK, who passed away recently, and Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar are some of the big names on the list.

All of them enjoyed great fame during their lifetime and also had a huge fan base of their own. But none of these criteria apply to a writer. That too, K. Rajanarayanan, is not very popular in the public domain. But this doesn't mean his work is not quality. Although his reading area is small, his contribution to a language is very important.

Realizing this, Chief Minister M K Stalin announced that the body would be paid State honors. The announcement took the entire creative world by surprise.

Jayakanthan never received such an honor.

The reason is that a similar demand was made when the famous writer Jayakanthan, who shook the Tamil literary world, passed away. But it is a historical tragedy that not a single wreath was placed on behalf of the government on that day.

When T.M Kaliyannan Gounder passed away ahead of K.R., Stalin presented the state honor. Kaliyannan was elected to the Constituent Assembly of India at the age of 28 (1948). He was a mature political leader in india, He died at the age of 101. But K. Rajanarayanan will not fall within this limit.

Earlier, When Edappadi K Palaniswami was the Chief Minister, T. Paramasivan passed away. T.P. Was the most accomplished scholar in the study of Tamil culture. Hence, a demand was made on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Art Writers' Association (TMKS) that the government should pay homage to his body. However, Edappadi K Palaniswami released the condolence message but did not order the state government honours.

However, when Tamil scholar Avvai Natarajan passed away, Chief Minister Stalin conferred the state honors on his death. His body was formally cremated with the sound of 21 bullets. In this way, the DMK government has created a new path.

What does writer S. Thamilselvan have to say?

"There have been significant changes in the field of writing after Stalin took over as chief minister. Today, he has expanded the book fair to every district. Similarly, Stalin had earlier said that those who came to meet him should give him a book and avoid offering shawls.

Similarly, K.R. was accorded state honors. On the death of Tamil scholar R. Ilankumaran, his body was accorded state honors. I see this change as healthy," says writer S. Thamilselvan.

"When KamalaDas died in Pune, she was airlifted at government expense and buried in Kerala with due respect. When Latin-American writer Gabriel García Márquez died, the nation paid tribute to him.

They are such a society of reading. Our society cannot be compared to that. But Stalin has changed this situation. I am also a K.R. When I died, I spoke to a senior officer with a demand for 'state honors'. "We have already taken that decision," he said. That's how fast this government is working," he says.

Perumal Murugan's Vision

Next, we spoke to writer Perumal Murugan. "This tradition was originally in the military. Later, it expanded to prime minister, president, and chief minister. But those who contributed to social progress were not easily available.

To break this, the then Chief Minister Karunanidhi conferred the state honors on Thanthai Periyar when he passed away. Periyar is not in any of the top posts in the government. But he made a huge difference to the progress of society.

It is in continuation of this that today the state honors have been accorded at the funerals of writers like K.R. The same recognition that political and social leaders received then has now been extended to the writer's level. It's a good thing.

This is an expression of the kind of respect the government has for writers. It is a great thing to bring in the view that writers are also important in society. In that sense, I welcome this.

At the same time, the government has not made a clear definition of granting state honors. When a person dies, the government takes this decision after considering his contribution. It is difficult to formulate a criteria for this. So, it's not possible to do it if you expect it to be given to everyone," he says.

Author Salma's comment

We spoke to writer Salma to get more details regarding the state honor. "Writers abroad get such honours. I recently went to Egypt. There I saw the Greek writer protecting Kawabi's house as a state museum. Our country is not that much," he said.

"The stars of the film industry received state honours at the funeral. But the writers didn't get it. That has been done by Chief Minister Stalin. This is a cultural change. The most important change that was taken place at the government level," says Salma.