Celebration of Hindi Month valedictory function along with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Chennai Doordarshan on Friday triggered a bitter war of words between Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin and state governor R N Ravi who fired salvos at each other.
While Stalin urged the Centre to recall the governor accusing him of “deliberately insulting” the sentiments of people of state, R N Ravi attacked the DMK government and expressed concern over the “perceived attempt to isolate Tamil Nadu from the rest of India.”
He described such efforts as a “toxic and separatist policy” and also targeted forces, both within and outside India, who aim to hinder the country’s growth.
Stalin accused the governor of suffering from Dravidian allergy and claimed that he was not fit to hold the constitutional office. “Governor? Are you an Aryan? Removing the word Dravidian and chanting Tamil Thai greetings is against the law of Tamil Nadu! A person who does not act according to the law and acts according to his will is not fit to hold that office. In the guise of celebrating India, the governor is insulting the unity of the country and the people of different races living in this land,” Stalin said.
“Will the governor who suffers from Dravidian allergy ask them to leave out Dravidian 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,” the chief minister added.
Following the controversy, the Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan issued a clarification.
“It is hereby clarified that the Governor participated in the Hindi Month Valedictory function & Commemoration of Doordarshan Chennai Golden Jubilee Celebration held at Chepauk, Chennai organised by Doordarshan, Chennai. At the beginning of the programme, the troupe who recites the Thamizhthaai Vaazhthu has inadvertently missed a line which consists of the word “Dravida”. The matter was immediately brought to the notice of organizers and appropriate authorities were asked to look into the matter. The Governor or His Office has no role in this except that he participated in the Programme. The governor has high respect towards Tamil & sentiments of the State and will continue to hold them at the highest level.”
The war of words started after Stalin wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the Centre’s move of celebrating Hindi Month in non-Hindi-speaking states calling it a “blatant attempt to impose Hindi.
“It has been announced that the closing ceremony of the Hindi Month celebrations and Golden Jubilee celebrations of Chennai Television will be held this evening at Doordarshan Tamil in Chennai, and Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi will be the special guest. This blatant attempt to impose Hindi is strongly condemned. India has 122 languages spoken by a significant number of people and 1599 other languages. There is no justification for celebrating only one language when India is a diverse country. In a country where more than 1700 languages are spoken, especially in a state where the world’s oldest language, Tamil, is spoken only in Hindi, it will affect the country’s diversity. Central government should not be responsible for this,” Stalin wrote in his letter.
“If the Union government still wants to conduct such events they can simultaneously celebrate local language months to promote harmony among languages,” the chief minister suggested.
“India has no such thing as a national language. If it is fair to celebrate Hindi Day and Hindi Month because Hindi was declared the official language of the country on 14th September 1949, the same right of celebration should be given to the Tamil language. When the Constitution of India was adopted on 26.01.1950, 14 languages including Tamil were included in its Eighth Schedule. The central Government should have declared that day as Tamil Language Day. On October 12, 2004, Tamil was announced as the classical language. The central Government should have declared that day as Classical Tamil Day. Without doing them, holding celebrations only for Hindi is tantamount to denigrating other languages,” Stalin went on to write in his letter.
Stalin’s letter evoked a strong response from the governor, who said Hindi should not be viewed as an imposition but as a language to be celebrated alongside other languages. He also expressed concern over who linguistic isolation was creating challenges for Tamil Nadu’s youth.
“There is a consistent attempt to isolate Tamil Nadu from India … A toxic and separatist policy cannot weaken the Bharat. Today, when our country is moving forward with PM Modi … India is rising, and at the same time there are forces trying to weaken India and take us back where it drives from inside and outside,” Ravi said at the function.
“First, when I came here, Hindi was not a welcome language in Tamil Nadu but when I started meeting students, I was happily surprised that their Hindi was better than mine. There is a greater acceptance of Hindi among people of Tamil Nadu… Hindi is not a language of imposition of language in Tamil Nadu. Each language is to be celebrated. Each language is for all of us to be proud of,” the governor said.
The governor pointed out that while 27 states in India have embraced a three-language formula, Tamil Nadu has been resistant to the inclusion of other languages, which he believes hampers communication and unity among states. He remarked that this linguistic isolation creates challenges for youth in Tamil Nadu, making it difficult for them to connect with peers in neighbouring states like Karnataka.
(With inputs from agencies)