M. Anantha Sayanam Ayyangar

M. Ananta Sayanam  Ayyangartc "M. Ananta  Sayanam  Ayyangar"
(4-2-1891 to 19-3-1978)

Let us remember the unsung heroes of yester years. Ananta Sayanam Ayyangar  was a great freedom fighter.  It was a crime in those days for Indians to make salt, during the British regime.  “ Our cause is just; our means are strong and God is with us:.” – Gandhi declared the night before the famous Dandi March at the time of Salt Satyagraha.  For 24 days India watched and joined the Salt Satyagraha from Kanyakumari in the South to Himalayas in the North.  Ayyangar, a devout follower of Gandhi, was no exception. He followed the satyagrahis in their March, heart and soul.

Andhras played an important role in the freedom struggle.  They were people like Pattabhi Sitaramayya, Prakasam Pantulu, Durgabai, Rajaji and Bhaktavatsalam in the undivided Madras Presidency then.  It is good to remember the stalwarts like Ananthaswamy Ayyangar, an Andhra, who ran hither and thither during the demonstration with the placard in hand, ‘Quit India’, receiving blows from the ‘Lathis’ and beatings from the butt of the rifle of the British Sepoy.   Ayyangar loomed large over the freedom movement.

He started his career as a teacher, soon after graduating from Pachiappa’s college and later as a Lawyer.  He was motivated by Gandhian ideals and jumped into the vortex of freedom movement.  From then onwards, there was no looking , nor let up in his efforts to fight for Independence of India along with the patriots like C. Rajagopalachari, Tanguturi Prakasam and Pattabhi Sitaramaiah.  He bade good-bye to his lucrative legal profession, and courted arrest, and suffered imprisonment in Vellore Jail and then in Tiruchirapalli jail in Tamilnadu.  From then onwards he was taken away to Amroati Jail near Nagpur and was kept there without any trace of his whereabouts to the members of his family. His prison mates were Rajaji and Bhaktavatsalam.

His career started in 1922 as Municipal Commissioner. His membership in the Parliament lasted long.  After Independence he was elected to the Constituent Assembly.  His contribution in the drafting of the Indian Constitution led to his elevation as the Dy. Speaker in the Provisional Parliament.  He became the Speaker of the Lok Sabha in 1955 after Mavlankar.  He was popular with both ruling party and the opposition.  His wit and humour and his expertise in conducting the proceedings of the House, made him a popular Speaker.  He represented India in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference at Ottawa and Canberra in post-Independence years.

Being impartial, as Speaker, he pulled up even the members of the Treasury Benches, when there was need for it and kept up the high traditions of parliamentary democracy.  As Governor of Bihar, he established peace, harmony and justice there.  During his tenure no visitor was allowed to eat meat or touch liquor in the Raj Bhavan.  We wish he were alive at present, and that too in Bihar. Ayyangar, to the present generation, is an unsung hero, A true follower of Gandhian Ideals. AYYANGAR stood for the promotion of Indian traditions and culture in true spirit and always stood for the cause of common people, the handicapped and the poor.  He was the founder of Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth at Tirupati, and started also a leprosy Home there.  He lived up to Alexander Pope’s “Act well your part.  There all the honour lies”