'Dravidian Model Only A Political Slogan'; 'Tamil Nadu Police Deeply Politicised' Says Governor RN Ravi In Interview

In an interview with the Times of India, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi spoke about several issues like him skipping certain parts of his speech while addressing the State Assembly earlier this year, assent to Bills, the Dravidian Model and the state police among others.

On Why Did He Skip 'Haven Of Peace And Tranquility'

In the immediate aftermath of the speech, it was speculated that Governor Ravi had skipped referring to the state as 'a haven of peace and tranquility' because of the Coimbatore blast and the throwing of bombs on houses of leaders belonging to certain political parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Hindu Munnani after the ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI).

Confirming this, he also added other examples like how a woman police constable who was allegedly molested by functionaries of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) later withdrew the case, the burning of a school in Kallakurichi, the recent murder of Lourdhu Francis, a Village Administrative Officer (VAO), allegedly by the local sand mafia and how central agencies had informed the state that international drugs and arms trafficking modules connected to Pakistan were active in the state.

"They said Tamil Nadu is a ‘haven of peace’ in terms of law and order. I quoted some instances. In Tamil Nadu, from the very next day after the ban on PFI, a terrorist organisation, for five days, terror attacks continued, more than 50 bomb attacks on houses and vehicles and no action was taken. Then the Coimbatore terror attack on a temple.

"Yet another case, at a public meeting, some weeks before the assembly address, a lady police constable in uniform was molested by a DMK leader. She was compelled to withdraw the case.

"Not just that. Every other day, we hear about mafias. Recently, the sand mafia walked into the office of a village administrative officer and hacked him to death. And, central agencies have informed the state that there are modules working for international drug and arms trafficking in Tamil Nadu and Pakistan.

"Now, with all this happening, you ask me to say it is a ‘haven of peace’. I am oathbound to tell the people of Tamil Nadu the truth."

On Skipping The Part About 'Excellent Management' Of Temples

Speaking about the area of land recovered, Governor Ravi said, "Then, the government wanted me to praise it for excellent management of temples and the reason they cited was that they have recovered 3,000 plus acres of encroached land. That’s a good one. We know that more than 50,000 acres of land has been encroached and recovery is too small."

He then indicated that his decision to skip the part was also because he was dismayed with the incidents at the Chidambaram Nataraja temple in 2022, which is not under the control of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department (HRCE).

"Out of vengeance, government officers of social welfare department lodged eight complaints of child marriage against the podhu dikshithars, that they were marrying their children underage, whereas there were no such marriages.

"Parents were arrested and put behind prisons. And the girls, sixth, seventh standard students, were forcibly taken from home to the hospitals and made to undergo ‘two-finger tests’, virginity tests. Some of them tried to commit suicide.

"I wrote a letter to the chief minister, asking what is this? Now, against the backdrop of all that is happening, you want me to praise the government. Isn’t that too much?"

Some days before the Assembly session, the department received flak when a Madras High Court judge was allegedly harassed by temple staff because he pointed out that he was wrongly issued only two tickets of Rs 50, when he had paid for three. The third ticket given to him was of Rs 5.

Around the same time, temple activists had alleged that the department could not protect two historic temples in Chennai from demolition for the Chennai metro rail because the temples were shown to be on encroached land. They said that the demolition was stopped only after they filed Public Interest Litigations (PILs).

On The Dravidian Model

Calling the Dravidian Model as 'only a political slogan', Governor Ravi said, "Then they wanted me to praise and endorse the Dravidian model of governance. First of all, there is no such model of governance. It is only a political slogan, a desperate bid to sustain an expired ideology, an ideology that does not relish the idea of ‘Oru Bharatham, One India’.

"An ideology that underplays the national freedom movement, seeks to erase from history and memory, the hundreds and thousands of freedom fighters from Tamil Nadu, those who gave their lives and everything and instead glorifies those who collaborated with the British.

"It is an ideology that rabidly enforces linguistic apartheid on the whole of the nation. No other Indian language is allowed entry into Tamil Nadu. So much so that if you read the recent Budget speech, the government is going to set up a central Kalaignar library with 3. 25 lakh books only in Tamil and English, no other language. It is an ideology that has created an ecosystem that fosters separatist sentiment. I don’t think anyone can expect me to endorse that. No, I will not, and I said I will not."

Days before the Assembly session, Governor Ravi had said that the state has been witness to regressive politics over the last 50 years. In his remarks at the Raj Bhavan, he had said, “In Tamil Nadu, there has been a regressive politics that we are Dravidians, and by virtue of the Constitution, we have been brought together.

"Over the past half a century efforts were made to reinforce this narrative that we are not part of the nation integrally."

On Walking Out Of The Assembly

Regarding his walkout from the Assembly, which invited a lot of criticism from the ruling DMK and its allies, Governor Ravi said, "After my speech, the speaker read out the Tamil version, I waited.

"But against the protocol, against the norms, the chief minister got up and in connivance with the speaker, wanted to embarrass the Governor in the house by passing a resolution against the governor. I didn’t allow them to do that. How can you embarrass the Governor, in his presence? So, I walked out."

On Pending Bills

"In 2022, I received 59 of which 48 I sent, three reserved for the President, one the state has withdrawn and for eight, assent withheld. That means no bill of 2022 pending.

"In 2023, I received seven, all seven have been assented to."

BJP state president K Annamalai had earlier said that the DMK was trying to spread a narrative among the people that the Governor was not giving assent to a large number of bills, while the issue is that a lot of bills pertained to making the Chief Minister as the Chancellor of state universities instead of the Governor.

On Why He Has Withheld Assent To 8 Bills Pertaining To Universities

"Yes. The reason why I withheld these is because education is a concurrent subject. The SC has time and again held that the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act of 1956 has the force of a statute, and any state provision must be consistent with that. The UGC Act and regulations mandate that higher educational institutions must be autonomous and insulated from political interference. That is the position.

"In Tamil Nadu, our state universities are unfortunately being run as a state department. Syndicate meetings are held at the state secretariat. Autonomy has been almost completely taken away. The only saving grace is the appointment of vice-chancellors. At least the V-C should be the right person. And, that is the responsibility of the chancellor. If that also goes to the state chief minister, it comes totally under political control. And this is not possible."

On The Tamil Nadu Police

"The TN police is very smart, well trained and reasonably well-equipped. But it is deeply politicised, heavily politicised. I’ll give you an example. I (my convoy) was attacked with sticks and stones (in April 2022) when I was going to the Dharmapuram Adheenam. Second, there were some threats and abuses. In both the cases, the governor lodged the FIR and police did not register it. This was because the accused were from the ruling party. Now, if a governor cannot get an FIR registered, that doesn’t speak well of the police."