It is a regular event on every Republic Day or Independence Day for the district administration to honour freedom fighters or their spouses/kin with shawls/mementoes.

But many of the family members of such heroes have started feeling that these honours were more ritualistic and confined to that particular day, with the authorities concerned not so keen to listen to their grievances later.

Anyone closely watching the R-day and I-day celebrations here over the last few years can easily make out how the officials rush through the gesture of adorning shawls and giving mementoes to the freedom fighters or their kin without even engaging in a pep talk with them, says P. R. Nataraj, son of freedom fighter P. Ramasamy and state general secretary of Tamil Nadu Freedom Fighters and Legal Heirs Association.

Mr. Nataraj was of the view that freedom fighters or their kin need to be honoured in a more honourable manner.

The Association wants the district administration to hold grievances redress meeting frequently for the families of freedom fighters. For example, Palaniammal, wife of freedom fighter Palaniappan who fought for Independence along with Nethaji Subash Chandra Bose, is facing lots of problems in life. Such things can be redressed only if their grievances are heard frequently, the Association members said.

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Freedom fighters deserve better treatment