Duraikannu was the first student- leader to be arrested in the Anti-Hindi war and jailed in the Palayamkottai Central Prison - the same time when the late DMK leader M. Karunanidhi was also serving a sentence there. He was in friendship with leaders like C.N. Annadurai, C.Rajagopachari, and G.D. Naidu even in his student days,” remembers Mullai Adhavan.
The significance of the anti-Hindi agitations in Coimbatore can be felt just from an incident in which a conscience-stricken policeman Kalimuthu fired at the protesting students only by closing his eyes. The cop was a secret supporter of the students’ movement against the imposition of Hindi.
After the incident, the apologetic Kalimuthu resigned from his policeman’s job and eked out a living as a bus conductor in a private transport company. The war against the imposition of Hindi was a painful period in the history of Coimbatore, as countless students laid their lives in the crusade to protect Tamil from the imposition of Hindi.
“The death of countless students in the Anti-Hindi protests pained Poolaimedu Dhandapani, a student of PSG College of Technology, who committed suicide by consuming poison. The suicide note recovered from his pocket read ‘Udal Mannukku, Uyir Tamizhukku“ writes Pulavar Senthalai Na.Gowthaman in his book Kovai Kanda Mozhipor.
A Duraikannu from Government Arts College, Thirugnanam from PSG College of Arts and Science, Palanisamy from Government Polytechnic,Khan from Agricultural College, Ulaganathan from Government College of Technology and Elankeeran and Poyyamozhi from Perur Tamil College led the massive protests in the city.
When the students led by Duraikannu, staged a protest in front of a post office, the police lathi-charged them brutally and stripped them of their clothes. Getting furious over the police’s high-handedness, the students braved the policemen by hurling stones at them.
A Ramasamy, who took an active part in the anti-Hindi agitation, writes in his comprehensive book Struggle for Freedom of Languages in India.
“In a protest presided over by Duraikannu in front of the post office in Coimbatore, police lathi-charged the mob, in which, four students were seriously injured. At 6 pm on the same day, the angry studentsset the movie hall Naaz on fire, for it was screening the Hindi film Aya Toofan (Storm Strikes). The police rushed to the spot and opened fire, in which four people were killed"
The students’ wing of the Anti-Hindi movement also published a book of poems on the title “Janavary 26il MaanamKedum Thamizharkku” (To the Tamils, whose dignity will decline on January 26), which was edited by Duraikannu.
“26.1.65 – The ancient Tamil language, which has existed since time immemorial, will die on this date. The booklet of poems is just a joint attempt by the college students of Coimbatore. We are not against the Hindi language, but only against the imposition of it as the official language” writes Duraikannu in his foreword to the book.
After over five decades from the Anti-Hindi war, Duraikannu, the hero ever remembered by his peers of the Government Arts College, passed away on September 31, 2020.
“However, the news of his death was published as a single-column in some dailies,” says Duraikannu’s nephew Suresh Kumar, who is also a journalist with an English newspaper.
“ Duraikannu founded the All College Students Union in Coimbatore, became its chairman and took the goals of the movement to different parts of the state during the anti-Hindi agitations of 1965,” says Vanambadi poet Mullai Adahavan, a close friend and classmate of Duraikannu when they studied together in B.Sc Mathematics in the Government Arts College, Coimbatore between 1963 and 1966.
Mullai Adahvan aka Chandrasekaran, who was one of the pillars of the Coimbatore Vanambadi Poetry Movement in the 1970s, later worked as the Head, Department of Tamil in Bharathiyar University.
“Duraikannu was the first student- leader to be arrested in the Anti-Hindi war and jailed in the Palayamkottai Central Prison - the same time when the late DMK leader M.Karunanidhi was also serving a sentence there. He was in friendship with leaders like C.N. Annadurai, C.Rajagopachari, and G.D. Naidu even in his student days,” remembers Mullai Adhavan.
Mullai Adhavan says that though many of Duraikannu’s juniors later got opportunities and enjoyed top positions in different political parties, Duraikannu ignored such opportunities and remained as a commoner uncompromised in his ideology and self-respect.
“Duraikannu worked as the editor to the monthly Tamil magazine Mekala and news editor in several media platforms including the Sun Network” notes Mullai Adhavan.