Sri Muthuramalinga Thevar's Gurupuja, 2019

patriot Sri Muthuramalinga Thevar www.wikidata org.

Sri TMuthuramalinga thevar and other freedom fighters. thehindu com

Above image: Never seen before photo: Subhas Chandra Bose, Muthuramalinga Thevar and others in Chennai in 1939.  Chandra Bose at the Tea hosted for him at the Beehive Foundry, Madras on September 3,1939. To his right is Kowtha Suryanarayana Rao (K S Rao), owner of the Beehive Group, and third from right  Sri Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar. second from left: A Tirunelveli Rowther, Mohammed Ismail revered in both Tamil Nadu and Kerala as the Quaid-E-Millat, a leader who ensured communal harmony; first president IUML after India's freedom.   Standing is C. Audikesavalu Chettiar, Rao’s partner and a businessman.  On that day  India was dragged into a World War II by the British Raj Madras Chronicler S. Muthiah was of the view that Sri  Chradra Bose might have fled to Germany to avoid confrontation with the Raj. Sri Bose, Sri Thevar and many other prominent freedom fighters  did not like India's participation in the war.  (https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/who-was-quaid-e-millat/article18347247.ece) ..................

The Gurupuja of the freedom fighter  Sri Muthuramalinga Thevar is being observed as an official function of the State government every year in his native town Pasumpon, Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu.  Actually, it marks the great leader's   57th Gurupuja -  both birth and death anniversary. This year it was  held  to day - 30 October and the TN CM, other ministers and various party leaders irrespective of their affiliation  attended this event in Pasumpon and paid their respect to a great human being who was a nationalist, hard core freedom fighter and a close associate of Nethaji Chandra Bose.  The Ministers and others paid floral tribute to him  at his memorial in the morning. A large number of politicians and leaders from the Mukkulathore community  and others attended the Gurupuja. 

patriot Sri Muthuramalinga Thevar  purificationdj.trendypics.ru

In Pasumpon town roughly 10000 police were on security duty to prevent untoward events  that would spoil the  event which is aimed at paying glowing tribute to a person  who sacrificed his entire life for the welfare of the people in his area and freedom from the unjust British rule.
In Chennai city, ministers  of the ruling party and other important political leaders  paid  floral tributes at the Thevar statue on Anna Salai in Nandanam at 10 am on the same day which is also Thevar’s 112th birth anniversary.   

 Sri Thevar's most important contribution is the removal of the
CTA (Criminal Tribal Act) of 1911  that included the Maravar/ Mukkulathore  community under the draconian CTA (Criminal Tribal Act) of 1911.

Pasumpon town, TN frontline.thehindu.com

The Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) of 1871 was introduced by the British in the aftermath of elimination of notorious bands of thuggee by 1870, operating in the northern states. The thugs over a period of  few centuries silently killed about  two million innocent travellers in north India for money and jewelry. After a pretty long period the colonial rulers found out the killers were from certain tribal communities  The  CTA was enforced to cut down criminal activities of some tribes across India. Unfortunately many innocent  tribal groups who had nothing to with these mass murders, were affected by this act. In the Madras Presidency, 19 Maravar villages in South Tamil Nadu were  forced to register under the CTA.

Sri Thevar who was very much in shock,  took the cudgels  against  this unjust  act introduced by the English. The Justice party then in power in the Presidency  and later the Congress party took no steps to revoke the CTA  despite his several appeals and this caused  disappointment among leaders like Thevar. In the wake of refusal to remove the act, in 1936 he decided to strengthen Indian National Congress (INC) in this region so that he could fight the CTA with support from the Cong.  In  the March 1946 Madras Presidency election Thevar won the election from his Muthukalathur constituency  and in  the same year  CTA  was repelled for good. The credit goes to Thevar  for his sustained and continued fighting till the removal of this act. 

A true follower of the teachings of Sri Vivekananda and Ramalinga Adigal  that set him on the track of spirituality, Sri Thevar till his demise followed the path of righteousness and Dharma.  He believed in unity in diversity and considered India as one nation and the Indians as one people. Thevar believed in popular sovereignty. He whole heatedly supported the temple entry act, allowing the Harijan to enter the Hindu temples.  Being a devout Hindu, he  was dead against atheist  elements in Tamil Nadu  that would destroy the cultural fabric of tradition-bound Tamil Nadu, the land of Nayanmars and Azwars. 

On October 22, 2002, a life-size statue of Sri. Thevar was unveiled in the Parliament House  by the then President of  India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.  On Jan 2, 2018, BJP MP Dr Subramanya Swamy  in the  Rajya Sabha requested the Indian government  to rename Madurai Airport as "Muthuramalinga Thevar International Airport " and Recognize 'Thevar' as Great Freedom Fighter! That will be a great tribute worthy of  a person who was a daring freedom fighter against the British. 
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/tamil-nadu-cm-ministers-to-attend-thevar-guru-puja/article29821716.ece
 http://navrangindia.blogspot.com/2016/09/sri-muthu-ramalinga-thevar-great.html