Tamil Nadu renames School Education Department campus after Anbazhagan

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday formally renamed the campus housing the School Education Department after Professor K Anbazhagan, a Dravidian stalwart, as his birth centenary celebrations come to a close.

Stalin, accompanied by senior ministers and government officials, unveiled a newly-constructed arch – Perasiriyar K Anbazhagan Valagam -- at the DPI campus on upscale College Road in Chennai. Anbazhagan, who is credited with several reforms in the education sector during his tenure as a minister in Karunanidhi government, was the general secretary of the DMK from 1977 till he took his last breath on March 7, 2020.

Widely known as ‘Perasiriyar’ (Professor), Kalyanasundaram Anbazhagan remained loyal to Karunanidhi in 50 years of their association. He stood like a rock behind Karunanidhi when the DMK faced a rebellion from M G Ramachandran in 1972 and remained with the DMK even when several of his colleagues jumped ship to the AIADMK.

Under Stalin, the DMK and the party-led government has been organising a series of events to commemorate the centenary year of Anbazhagan. In a message released on Monday, the Chief Minister said Anbazhagan’s speeches continue to guide the “Dravidian Model” government led by him just like they did to the previous dispensations led by the DMK.

“Just like C N Annadurai, and M Karunanidhi, Prof K Anbazhagan also dedicated 75 years of his life for the people of Tamil Nadu. He not just propagated the Dravidian principles, but was one of the leading lights of the Dravidian Movement. We are travelling in the path shown by him,” Stalin said.

“Let us take a vow to achieve the principle of equality on the birth anniversary of Perasiriyar,” the Chief Minister added.

As Education Minister, Anbazhagan ordered that textbooks to students from class one to five be given free and established a separate department for higher education in 1997. He is also credited with launching the single-window admission system for engineering colleges and 965 primary schools in just five years.

Anbazhagan was deep-rooted in the Dravidian ideology and his powerful oratory skills endeared several thousand youngsters to the DMK in its heydays.

Anbazhagan and Karunanidhi met for the first time in 1942 in Tiruvarur and worked together in the DMK for over six decades. The bonding between the two leaders was such that Anbazhagan had declared once that only death can separate them.

After pursuing PG in Tamil at the Annamalai University, Anbazhagan landed the job of an assistant professor at the famed Pachayappa's College in Chennai.

He got actively involved in the Dravidian movement and particularly the DMK because of his love for C N Annadurai, Anbazhagan felt his job was a hindrance in pursuing his ideological goals. He resigned his post in 1956 and contested the 1957 assembly elections and won along with Annadurai and Karunanidhi.

Since he was a Lok Sabha member in 1967, Anbazhagan couldn't be part of the first DMK government. But was part of every DMK government after 1971.