A graduation ceremony in Tamil Nadu turned political on Wednesday when a PhD scholar refused to receive her degree from Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi accusing him of acting against the state, and instead received her certificate from vice chancellor M Chandrasekar of the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli.
The scholar, Jean Rajan, who is a resident of Nagercoil, is the wife of a DMK party functionary M Rajan. At the convocation, she was seen walking past the governor, who is the chancellor of the university, standing on stage and going towards the vice-chancellor to receive her certificate. When the V-C asked Rajan to receive the certificate from the governor, she refused. While the governor, initially thinking it was a mistake, reached out to her, her body language reportedly showed that she didn’t want to take the certificate from him and Ravi smiled and appeared to be saying “okay” and turned to the next candidate.
“I did this only out of concern for my state,” she said after receiving her degree which she said is a PhD in MBA. “The governor’s actions are against Tamil and Tamil Nadu. It was my decision. I have a choice about from whom I can receive my degree. That’s why I didn’t want to accept my doctorate from him.”
She is currently working as a senior manager in a private company in Nagercoil. “I believe in the Dravidian Model governance (of the DMK) so based on that I thought this was not right. I am questioning the system…I didn’t speak anything against the governor to protect the dignity of my state.”
{{/usCountry}}She is currently working as a senior manager in a private company in Nagercoil. “I believe in the Dravidian Model governance (of the DMK) so based on that I thought this was not right. I am questioning the system…I didn’t speak anything against the governor to protect the dignity of my state.”
{{/usCountry}}The scenes escalated politically outside the university. The BJP asked the DMK functionaries to stop such dramas to gain fame within the party. “Chief minister MK Stalin must advise his party members not to bring the DMK’s low-grade politics into educational institutions,” said former BJP state president K Annamalai. “There are more people in Tamil Nadu who dislike the DMK. If they too behave in the same manner, where will the chief ,inister MK Stalin hide his face?”
The DMK did not react to the controversy. Meanwhile, DMK’s allies – Congress, VCK, and Left parties — announced that they will boycott the “At Home” party hosted by governor on Independence Day.