The Madurai Kamaraj University is set to confer an honourary doctorate to 102-year-old Communist veteran and freedom fighter N Sankaraiah. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, who was on a trip to Madurai, announced this on the evening of Saturday, July 15, the 102nd birthday of the leader.
Stalin in a statement said that Sankaraiah, who was a student of American College in Madurai, was not able to write the examination as he was arrested by the British Government due to his Communist activities. The Chief Minister said that the Communist veteran was first arrested in 1941 when he was a final year student of American College. He was released just 12 hours before August 15, 1947 when the country attained Independence.
“There have been requests from various quarters that Sankaraiah be conferred with an honorary doctorate in appreciation of his contributions to the poor and downtrodden and the freedom struggle. That is being fulfilled now,” Stalin had said. Sankaraiah was a state secretary of Communist party of Tamil Nadu and was elected to the state legislative assembly in the years 1967, 1977 and 1980.
It may be noted that the veteran Communist leader was conferred Tamil Nadu’s supreme award, ‘Thagaisal Tamil’ award in 2021 when he turned 100. The award carried a citation and an amount of Rs 10 lakh. The veteran Communist leader donated the money to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.