Tamil Nadu’s Deputy Chief Minister, Udhayanidhi Stalin, is set to inaugurate the beautifully restored memorial dedicated to former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj in Ranipet this Monday. This significant site was once a discreet safe house where the venerable Congress leader sought refuge during the Indian freedom struggle, eluding capture by the British authorities.
The Ranipet municipality, responsible for this meticulous restoration, shared insights into the house’s transformation. Once merely a storage space for cattle feed within the 8.5-acre municipal office complex, it has been brought back to its past grandeur. According to S. Buvaneswaran, Commissioner of Ranipet municipality, visitors will soon be able to experience its original charm, complete with a Mangalore tiled roof, vintage electrical switches, and authentic hurricane lamps.
Detailed by municipal officials, the structure originally featured three modest rooms, each approximately 100 sq. ft., equipped with concrete slab cupboards behind wooden doors. Prior to its restoration, the house had fallen into disrepair, with pillars overgrown by thick vegetation, walls marred by cracks, and much of its roof tiles collapsed. It was Minister for Handlooms and Textiles and Ranipet MLA R. Gandhi who initiated the project in 2022, tasking the municipal officials with transforming the neglected property into a fitting memorial.
Historians confirm that the entire municipal office complex, including this very house, was originally owned by Mohammad A.B. Sulaiman Sahib, a local leather merchant and a dedicated freedom fighter.
The story behind Kamaraj’s stay is equally compelling. Following the Indian National Congress session in Bombay in August 1942, where the pivotal Quit India Movement resolution was passed, Kamaraj was en route to Madras. Alerted by fellow Congress workers about a potential arrest at the Central Railway Station, he strategically disembarked at Arakkonam. From there, he took a bus to Ranipet, seeking assistance from his friend and fellow freedom fighter, A. Kalyanaraman Iyer. With police keeping a close watch, Iyer turned to Sulaiman, who offered his storehouse as a safe haven for Kamaraj. Decades later, Sulaiman eventually sold this historically significant property to the local civic body.