Stalin accuses TN governor of 'Dravidian allergy' in anthem row; asks Centre to recall him

On Friday, Stalin strongly condemned the skipping of the word 'Dravida' in the Tamil anthem that was sung at a function in Chennai, in which the Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi presided over as a chief guest.

The governor was the chief guest at the Doordarshan Kendra Chennai's Hindi month valedictory function.

Also read: TN Governor acting like politician, changing Raj Bhavan into 'political Bhavan’: Minister 

Leaving out Dravida

The Tamil Anthem, the Tamil Thai Vazhthu, is sung at the beginning of every government programme and the word 'Dravida' refers to the people in the southern states. A group from Doordarshan left out the line with the word Dravida in it while singing the anthem at the function.

Claiming that this violates the state's law, Stalin accused the governor of insulting national unity and the people of many races in the guise of celebrating Hindi and asked the Centre to recall him.

In a post on X, Stalin asked, "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." 

Also read: Tamil Nadu Stalin's veiled swipe at Ravi; lists 'Dravidian model' govt's achievements 

Belittling other languages

Besides the skipping of the line which featured the word Dravida in the anthem, Stalin objected to Ravi attending the golden jubilee celebrations of Chennai Doordarshan, which also marked the culmination of the Hindi Month.

The CM said celebrating Hindi in a non-Hindi-speaking state is seen as an attempt to belittle other languages.

Stalin, registering his protest, said in a multilingual nation, celebrating Hindi month in non-Hindi-speaking states, "is seen as an attempt to belittle" other languages. "I strongly condemn the celebration of Hindi Month valedictory function along with the golden jubilee celebrations of Chennai Doordarshan. Hon’ble @PMOIndia, The Constitution of India does not grant national language status to any language," the Chief Minister said in a post on 'X'.

Furthermore, he said: "Therefore, I suggest that holding such Hindi-oriented events in non-Hindi speaking states could be avoided, and instead, the celebration of the local language month in the respective states should be encouraged."

DMK students' wing protest

Meanwhile, the DMK students' wing members gathered in front of the DD Tamil office where the governor attended the valedictory this evening. The wing's president R Rajiv Gandhi said the BJP-led government was consistently involved in attempts to impose Hindi on the non-Hindi speaking states.

"This is condemnable. The DMK and a majority of political parties in the state are opposing the move to thrust Hindi on Tamil Nadu. But, the Centre is only adding fuel to the fire," Gandhi told reporters.

(With inputs from agencies)