V.O.Chidambaram Pillai.ppt

V.O.Chidambaram Pillai Freedom fighter of Tamilnadu fought against British Paramountcy

1. Dr.B.Athmanathan
Research Coordinator
Centre for Historical Research
Mannar Thirumalai Naicker College
Pasumalai
Madurai -4
V.O.ChidambaramPillai

3. Born On:September 5, 1872
Born In:Ottapidaram, Tamil Nadu, India
Died On:November 18, 1936
Career:Lawyer, Politician
Nationality:Indian

4. V.O.ChidambaramPillai,popularly
knownbyhisinitialsV.O.C,wasoneofthemost
prominentlawyersin19thcenturyBritishIndia.
WhileV.O.ChidambaramPillaiprovideda
strongleadershiptotradeunionsfunctioningin
hisnativestateTamilNaduandalsofoughtfor
India'sfreedomfromtheBritish,heisbest
rememberedasthemanwhosetupthefirst
indigenousshippingservicebetweenTuticorin
andColombo.

5. OwingtoV.O.ChidambaramPillai's
rebelliousattitudeandhiscouragetoactagainst
theBritishgovernment,theEnglishstrippedthe
titleofbarristerassociatedwithhisname.Itwas
hisbravenaturethatwonV.O.Cthename
'KappalottiyaTamilian'inTamilNadu,which
translatesto'TheTamilHelmsman'inEnglish.

6. Childhood and Legal Career
V.O.ChidambaramPillaiwasbornonSeptember
5,1872inthetownofOttapidaraminTuticorindistrict
ofTamilNadu.HisfatherOlaganathanPillaiwasoneof
themostimportantlawyersofthecountryanditwasin
hisfather'sfootstepsthatV.O.Cfollowedafter
completionofhiseducation.V.O.ChidambaramPillai
enrolledinschoolsinhisnativeOttapidaramandnearby
Tirunelveli.V.O.CstartedworkingintheOttapidaram
districtadministrativeofficeaftertheendofhisschool
education.

7. Career in Politics
V.O.ChidambaramPillaienteredinto
activepoliticsintheyear1905bybecominga
memberoftheIndianNationalCongress.The
SwadeshimovementinIndiawasalreadyatits
hiltduringthistimeandleaderslikeLalaLajpat
RaiandBalGangadharTilakweretryingtheir
besttoputanendtoBritishImperialcoercionof
trade.

8. Thesamecausewhichwouldalsoensure
thesafetyoftraditionalIndianindustriesand
communitiesdependentonthemwasbeing
championedbyAurobindoGhosh,Subramanya
SivaandSubramanyaBharathithroughthe
MadrasPresidency.V.O.Cthendecidedtojoin
theIndianNationalCongressandfightalong
withothermembersoftheMadrasPresidency.
HelaterpresidedovertheSalemDistrictsession
oftheINC.

9. Shipping Company
AfterjoiningtheIndianNationalCongress,V.O.
ChidambaramPillaiwholeheartedlyimmersedhimself
intoSwadeshiworktosecureindependenceforIndia.Part
ofhisSwadeshiworkwastoputanendtothemonopoly
ofBritishshippinginthecoastsofCeylon.Inspiredby
freedomfighterRamakrishnananda,hesetupthe
SwadeshiSteamNavigationCompanyonNovember12,
1906.WiththehelpofotherSwadeshimembers
AurobindoGhoshandBalGangadharTilak,V.O.C
boughttwosteamshipsS.S.GaeliaandS.S.Lawoeto
starthisshippingcompany.Muchtotheannoyanceofthe
BritishgovernmentandBritishtraders,V.O.C'sships
startedregularservicesbetweenTuticorinandColombo.

11. Hisshippingcompanywasnotonlyacommercial
venture,itwasalsothefirstcomprehensiveshipping
servicesetupbyanIndianinBritishIndia.The
SwadeshiSteamNavigationCompanygavestiff
competitiontotheBritishIndiaSteamNavigation
Company,duetowhichthelatterhadtoreducefaresper
trip.WhileV.O.Crespondedbyreducinghisrateseven
furtherthanthatoftheBritishIndiaSteamNavigation
Company,hecouldnotaffordtheirtacticsofoffering
freeridesandumbrellastopassengers,thustakingthe
SwadeshiSteamNavigationCompanyonthevergeof
bankruptcy

12. Nationalistic Spirit
V.O.ChidambaramPillaiaimedatexpanding
thereachofSwadeshiinthecountryandmakingthe
commonIndianmanawareofthefaultyBritish
government.ItisforthispurposethatV.O.Ctook
thesupportofworkersofCoralMillsinTirunelveli.
TheBritishauthoritieshadalreadytakenadisliking
towardsPillaiandthisactcompelledthemtoarrest
V.O.ConMarch12,1908onchargesofsedition
againstthegovernment.Violenceeruptedinthe
stateafterthearrestofV.O.C.Clashesbetween
policeandcommonmenfollowed,leadingtothe
deathoffourpeople..

13. Thoughhisactionswerevehemently
condemnedbyBritishauthorities,V.O.Cgotthe
supportofthepressinthecountrywhichpraised
hisnationalisticspiritelaborately.WhiletheBritish
weretryingtheirbesttoprosecuteV.O.C,Indiansin
thecountryaswellasinSouthAfricanswere
accumulatingfundstofreehimfromprison.
MahatmaGandhi,thenstayinginSouthAfrica,also
hadcollectedmoneyandsentittoIndiatofundthe
defenseofVOC.Afterhisarrest,Pillaiwashoused
attheCentralPrisoninCoimbatorefromJuly9,
1908toDecember1,1910.TheBritishhadslapped
asentenceoflifeimprisonmentonV.O.C,clearly
indicatingthattheywereafraidofhisrebellious
spirit

14. Duringhisdaysinprison,VOChidambaram
Pillaididnotreceivethetreatmentshowntoother
politicalprisoners;ratherhewasmadetoengagein
hardlaborinprisonjustlikeotherconvicts.The
hardworktookatollonhishealthandthegradual
deteriorationofhisconditionforcedtheBritish
authoritiestoreleasehimfromprisononDecember
12,1912.Whileinprison,VOChidambaramPillai
continuedwithhisSwadeshiactivitiesthroughlegal
petitions.CruelcircumstancesstruckhimwhenVO
ChidambaramPillaiwasreleasedfromprison.

15. Insteadofalargegatheringofsupporters
whichhehadexpectedinfrontofthejailgates,
therewasaneeriesilence.Thetitleofbarrister
wastakenawayfromhim,meaningthatV.O.C
couldnotpracticelawanymore.TheSwadeshi
SteamNavigationCompanywasalsoliquidated
intheyear1911,soV.O.Cwasleftapoorman.
VOChidambaramPillaisettledinMadraswith
hiswifeandtwochildrenandbecametheleader
ofvarioustradeunionsandlabourwelfare
organizationsinMadras.Intheyear1920,VO
ChidambaramPillaipresidedovertheCalcutta
sessionoftheIndianNationalCongress.

18. Literary Works
Apartfromhisworksasaneminentlawyer
andapolitician,VOChidambaramPillaiwas
alsoascholar.Hestartedhisautobiography
whileinprisonandcompleteditsoonafterhis
releaseintheyear1912.VOChidambaramPillai
wastheauthorofacoupleofnovels;he
translatedseveralJamesAllenworksinTamil
andmadecompilationsofimportantTamil
worksliketheThirukuralandtheTolkappiam.

19. Personal Life
VOChidambaramPillaimarriedValliammai
intheyear1895,butshediedprematurelyinthe
year1901.HemarriedMeenakshiAmmaiarafew
yearslater.Thecouplehadfoursonsandfour
daughters.Hiseldestsondiedwhenstillachild,the
secondsonwasapolitician,thethirdsonwasthe
employeeoftheAmericanEmbassyinMadrasand
thefourthson,stillaliveissettledinMadurai.All
hisdaughtershadbeenmarriedinMadras.The
descendantsofV.O.CPillaistillliveinvarious
placesacrossTamilNadu.

20. Death
VOChidambaramPillaispentsuchan
impoverishedlifestyleafterhewasreleasedfrom
prisonthatJusticeWallacewhosentencedVOC
toprisonrestoredhisbarlicense.ButVOCwas
neversuccessfulinrepayinghisdebtsandlived
inpovertytilltheendofhislifeonNovember
18,1936.VOChidambaramPillaibreathedhis
lastattheIndianNationalCongressofficein
Tuticorin.

21. Commemorations
VallinayagamOlaganathanChidambaram
Pillaiisrememberedasoneofthemost
importantfiguresinIndia'sstrugglefor
independence.Heismuchlovedandcelebrated
intheTamilNadusocietytilltoday.

23. •Hewasgiventhetitleof'KappalottiyaTamilan’,ortheTamil
Helmsman;oronewhodrivestheshipandshowsthedirection.
•TheTuticorinportwasrenamedasV.O.CPortafterindependencein
fondremembranceofV.O.C.
•V.O.ChasacollegeinTuticorinnamedafterhim.
•AspecialpostagestampwasreleasedbytheIndianPosts&
TelegraphsdepartmenttomarkthebirthcentenaryofVallinayagam
OlaganathanChidambaramPillaionSeptember5,1972.
•V.O.CParkandV.O.CGroundsarethemostimportantpublicpark
andmeetinggroundinCoimbatore.
•TheCentralPrisoninCoimbatorewheretherevolutionarywas
housedhasamonumentconstructedinsidetheprisonpremises
dedicatedtohim.
•TheconnectingbridgebetweenTirunelveliandPalayamkottaihas
beennamedtheV.O.CBridge.
•The1961Tamilmovie'Kappal’ottiyaThamizlan’isbasedonthelife
storyofVallinayagamOlaganathanChidambaramPillai.Itstars
SivajiGanesanintheleadrol

24. Timeline
1872:VallinayagamOlaganathanChidambaram Pillaiwas
born on September 5.
1895:Married Valliammai.
1901:His wife died of illness.
1905:Joined politics by becoming a member of the Indian
National Congress.
1906:Started his shipping company SwadeshiSteam
Navigation Company on November 12.
1908:Was arrested on charges of sedition on March 12.
1908:Sent to the Central Prison in Coimbatore on July 9.
1911:His shipping company SwadeshiSteam Navigation
Company is liquidated.
1912:Released from prison on December 12.
1920:Presided over the Calcutta session of INC.
1936:Died on November 18.