Can a court of law direct the State government to include the life history of a particular leader in the school syllabus? The Madras High Court shall answer this question on Monday when it is slated to hear a public interest litigation (PIL) petition on the issue.
A Division Bench of Justices S. Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad would be hearing the case filed by K. Krishnasamy, founder president of Puthiya Tamilagam party, for including a chapter on Immanuel Sekaran in Tamil textbook for class VII, VIII or IX.
In an affidavit filed in support of his case, the petitioner, at the outset, stated that he was an income tax assessee earning a gross annual income of ₹41.76 lakh and that he undertakes to pay costs if the case was found to be filed for personal gain or with an oblique motive.
The affidavit went on to state that Immanuel Sekaran was an eminent leader of the oppressed communities and a freedom fighter. He had participated in the Quit India movement, at the age of 18, along with his father Vedanayagam and was imprisoned for three months.
“In 1945, he enlisted in the British Indian Army and worked as Havildar. He was fluent in many languages, including Tamil, English, Russian, Malayalam, Hindu, Telugu and Kannada. After his discharge from the Army, he returned to his native in Ramanathapuram district.
“There he could not tolerate the severe injustice caused to the Devendra Kula Vellalars, Adi Dravidars and other people classified as Scheduled Castes in the entire district. This spurred him to work for the rights of the depressed classes and also for their education,” the affidavit read. It also stated that Immanuel Sekaran struggled for eradication of double-tumbler system followed in tea shops to discriminate the customers on the basis of their caste and also against the restrictions imposed on the scheduled castes on wearing footwear and using umbrellas.
He protested against untouchability and this led to the murder of 42 Devendra Kula Vellalar community people in 1954. On September 11, 1957, Immanuel Sekaran was also murdered by unknown individuals when he was returning to Paramakudi from Mudukulathur, the petitioner said.
Claiming that a special session of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly was held on November 11, 1957 for condoling the death, Mr. Krishnasamy insisted that the history of such a leader should necessarily be included in the middle school syllabus.
