The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday directed the State government to file a response in a public interest litigation petition that sought a direction to the government to take steps to maintain the Thyagi Sankaralinganar memorial in Virudhunagar district.
A Division Bench of Justices M. Duraiswamy and K. Murali Shankar directed the State to file a counter affidavit in the petition filed by G. Thirumurugan of Ramanathapuram district.
The petitioner pointed out that Thyagi Sankaralinganar played a prominent role in getting the name of the State changed from ‘Madras State’ to ‘Tamil Nadu’ and had begun a ‘fast unto death’ movement in this regard.
He said that the memorial in Virudhunagar district should be developed along the lines of the Gandhi Museum in Madurai. Photographs and portraits depicting the historical events should be displayed at the memorial.
The petitioner said that the memorial also lacked basic amenities. The authorities should take steps to improve the facilities at the memorial. He also said that the memorial should be developed into a tourist spot.
