TN state anthem row: Free yourself from divisive forces, CM tells Guv

PTI, Oct 19, 2024, 11:47 AM IST

Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi should free himself from divisive forces and discharge duties as per Constitutional norms, if he intends to continue as governor, Chief Minister M K Stalin said, and asked him to desist from converting Raj Bhavan into a political party office to depict Dravidian race in poor light.

Amidst the heightened war of words between the governor and chief minister over the omission of a line from the state anthem during its rendition at the governor’s event on Friday, Stalin sought to know why Ravi did not immediately condemn when a line from the Tamil anthem was missed right in front of him.

“You say you can sing Tamil Thai Valthu with complete devotion, but why did you not immediately condemn when the singers missed a line pertaining to Dravida?” the chief minister asked Ravi.

While rendering the Tamil Thai Valthu at the valedictory of Hindi month held at Doordarshan Tamil office here on Friday evening, where the governor participated, the troupe reciting the anthem inadvertently skipped a line. The Doordarshan Kendra had clarified and tendered an apology.

The omitted line: “Thekkanamum Adhil sirantha Dravida Nal Thiru naadum” refers to the greatness of the Dravidian land in the Deccan.

Reacting strongly to the governor’s reply on the issue, Stalin said “you have said that it was unfortunately cheap for a chief minister to make racist comments against a governor with false allegations. Governor, Tamil is our race, our lifeblood.” Tamils were the ones who sacrificed their lives for the cause of the Tamil language and this soil laid the foundations of the first Constitutional amendment. “If discriminating against our mother tongue is racism then it is our pride!” Stalin said in a post on the social media platform ‘X’.

On the governor’s assertion that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took Tamil even to the United Nations, Stalin wanted to know what the Modi government had done for the Tamil language. All along, the Centre has been providing hefty funds to promote Sanskrit.

“If the BJP-led government’s affinity for Tamil was real, then what prevented the government from declaring the Tamil treatise Thirukkural as a national book?” the chief minister asked and claimed that the Centre was thrusting Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states.

He further said “if you (Ravi) intend to continue as governor, I request you to free yourself from divisive forces and discharge your duties according to Constitutional norms.” Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said he did not want to make this controversy a big issue as DD has apologised. “They have apologised, let’s see,” Udhayanidhi told reporters when asked for his comments.