Demand for Vanchinathan memorial

The demand for a memorial for freedom fighter Vanchinathan at Vanchi Maniyachi railway station is growing among various sections of people.

In recognition of his contribution to India’s freedom struggle, the State government should establish the much-awaited memorial at Vanchi Maniyachi railway station where he lost his life, Ilasai Manian, a literary scholar and secretary of Raghunathan Library, Barathi Research Centre, Ettayapuram, said here on Thursday.

Speaking to

The Hindu , he said he had been sending letters to government and railways authorities for the establishment of the memorial near the railway station. He had also forwarded letters to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in 2015, he noted.

But no effort had been made to establish the memorial, which could possibly have photos and portraits of Vanchinathan and depiction of his role in the freedom movement.

It was at Maniyachi railway station that the revolutionary freedom fighter shot himself to death in a toilet after gunning down the then Tirunelveli Collector and District Magistrate Robert William D’ Escourt Ashe for his role in crippling Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company, started by V.O. Chidambaram in 1906.

The incident occurred on June 17, 1911 when Collector Ashe, along with his family, was waiting to board a train.

The 73-year-old scholar said only after it was brought to the notice of the railway authorities that train tickets did not have the railway station’s name in full, Vanchi Maniyachi, in 2011, the freedom fighter’s death centenary year, the full name was printed on the tickets.