MK Stalin seeks Tamil Nadu governor's removal over state anthem, RN Ravi hits back
A sentence "Thekkanamum adhil sirantha Dravida nal thiru naadum" was missing when the singers sang the anthem at the DD Tamil office in Chennai
A massive war of words has erupted between Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin and governor RN Ravi over the state anthem during its rendition at an event presided by the latter.
According to a PTI report, a sentence "Thekkanamum adhil sirantha Dravida nal thiru naadum" was missing when the singers sang the anthem at the DD Tamil office in Chennai during the Doordarshan Kendra Chennai's Hindi month valedictory function.
Stalin accused the governor of insulting the unity of the country, Tamil Nadu and its people. The chief minister demanded that Ravi be recalled by the Centre.
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“A person who doesn't abide by the law and acts as per his wishes was not fit to hold that office and wondered if Ravi was a governor or an ‘Aryan’,” PTI quoted the CM as saying.
Opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIAMDK) chief Edappadi K Palaniswamy condemned the omission, calling it a “blunder”.
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TN governor accuses Stalin of making racist remark
Hitting back at Stalin, the governor termed the CM's reaction as “regrettable” and accused him of making a racist remark. He accused Stalin of having levelled "false allegation of showing disrespect to Tamizh Thaai Valthu."
The governor said the allegation against him was “unfortunately cheap and lowers the dignity of the high constitutional office of the chief minister.”
Doordarshan Kendra apologises
As the controversy escalated, the Doordarshan Kendra in Chennai apologised, calling it an “inadvertent mistake”, adding that the singers had no intention to disrespect Tamil or the state song Tamizh Thaai Valthu.
In an X post, Stalin while pressing for governor's recall by Centre, said,"Will the governor, suffering from the Dravidian allergy, ask the people to sing the national anthem leaving out Dravida?"
In an X post, the governor said,"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 allegation 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"
“As a proud Indian I myself have taken numerous substantive initiatives to spread Tamil, the oldest and richest living language, in other states of the country, the latest being to set up , with cooperation of the Assam govt, a Tamil diploma course in Gauhati University for spread of Tamil in the North East,” the governor added.
Ravi said, "Since he (Stalin) rushed to public with his racist remarks and false imputations, I am constrained to respond."
(With PTI inputs)