Sir A. T. Pannirselvam
1888 – 1940
Thanjavur lawyer who led the defeated Justice Party into the 1937–40 anti-Hindi agitation and died in an air crash on his way to London.
Sir Annasamy Thamaraiselvam Pannirselvam (1 June 1888 – 1 March 1940) was born at Selvapuram in Nannilam taluk, in present-day Tiruvarur district. A lawyer and landlord, he led the Tanjore municipality from 1918 to 1920 and served on the Tanjore district board from 1924 to 1930.
In 1937 he succeeded Mohammad Usman as Home Minister in the Raja of Bobbili's cabinet. He was one of the few Justice leaders to survive the party's defeat that year, and became its leader. Under him the party joined Periyar's Self-Respect Movement in opposing compulsory Hindi in schools, and its legislators demanded that Hindi be made optional.
On 1 March 1940, travelling to London to join the Secretary of State's India Council, he was killed when the Imperial Airways aircraft Hannibal disappeared over the Gulf of Oman with everyone aboard.
Key contributions
- Leader of the Tanjore municipality, 1918–1920
- Home Minister of Madras, 1937
- Led the Justice Party in the 1937–40 anti-Hindi agitation