Tamil Nadu Governor Ravi, CM Stalin Clash Over 'Dravida' Omission In Tamil Anthem—What You Need To Know

The already strained relations between the Tamil Nadu government and the Governor escalated sharply on Friday (18 October) after Chief Minister M K Stalin said a line with the word 'Dravida' was skipped when the Tamil anthem was sung at an event attended by Governor RN Ravi.

Asking the Centre to recall the governor, Stalin accused him of insulting national unity. Governor Ravi hit back, claiming that the chief minister had made a racist remark against him.

This incident further aggravated tensions amid ongoing controversies over the Centre celebrating the culmination of the Hindi month along with the golden jubilee celebrations of Chennai Doordarshan - the event attended by Ravi.

Stalin had voiced his disapproval, arguing that such celebrations in a non-Hindi-speaking state is seen as an attempt to belittle other languages.

The Tamil Thaai Vazhthu, Tamil Nadu’s anthem, is traditionally performed at the start of every government programme, and the word 'Dravida' largely refers to the racial identity of the people in the southern states.

At the event in question, The group from Doordarshan, while singing the anthem, left out the line which has the word in it.

Following the outrage, Doordarshan Tamil issued an apology, blaming the mistake on the singers being distracted.

Chief Minister Stalin, who is also the DMK chief, strongly criticised the governor, declaring him "unfit" for office.

He questioned whether Governor Ravi would call for 'Dravida' being skipped in the national anthem.

Stalin highlighted that excluding the word from the Tamil anthem is a violation of state law.

He further alleged that Governor Ravi had insulted national unity and the people of many races in the guise of celebrating Hindi.

"Will the governor who suffers from a Dravidian allergy ask them to leave out 'Dravida' in the national anthem? The Union Government should immediately recall the Governor who is deliberately insulting Tamil Nadu and the sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu," Stalin wrote in Tamil in a post on X, NDTV reported.

In a strong rejoinder to the Chief Minister, Ravi said "making a racist remark" against the Governor is "unfortunately cheap".

"Hon'ble Chief Minister Thiru. @mkstalin has issued a regrettable tweet this evening in which he made a racist remark against me and levelled false allegations of showing disrespect to Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu. He knows it well that I recite full Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu at every function and do so with reverence, pride and precision," the Governor said in a post on X.

Governor Ravi emphasised that the Union government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had taken substantial steps to promote Tamil culture and heritage and so has he.

"Making racist remarks and alleging incorrect imputations against the governor by the chief minister is unfortunately cheap and lowers the dignity of the high constitutional office of the chief minister. Since he rushed to public with his racist remarks and false imputations I am constrained to respond (sic)," he wrote.

Earlier, Stalin had addressed a letter to Prime Minister Modi had written to Prime Minister Modi about the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Chennai Doordarshan being combined with Hindi Month Celebrations and said celebrating "such-Hindi language oriented events in non-Hindi speaking states" can be avoided.

Governor Ravi defended the celebrations, asserting that Hindi should not be seen as an imposed language but rather one to be celebrated alongside other regional languages.

The governor also expressed concern over what he called an attempt to isolate Tamil Nadu from the rest of India, describing such efforts as a "toxic and separatist policy".

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