Governor Ravi’s Pongal invite adds fuel to Tamil Nadu vs Tamizhagam row

A day after a face-off between the Tamil Nadu government and Governor RN Ravi on the floor of the Assembly, an invite from the Governor’s House for Pongal festival has added fuel to the already raging Tamil Nadu versus Tamizhagam controversy. Incidentally, the row was sparked by the governor’s recent remarks about “a more appropriate name” for the state.

State govt emblem missing in invite

The controversial invite, which is in Tamil, also misses the state government’s emblem and features only the emblem of the Government of India. The invite in Tamil refers to Ravi as the “Tamizhagam” governor, while its English version has Tamil Nadu governor written on it.

The ruling DMK and its allies have accused the Governor of pushing the agenda of the RSS-BJP by pitching the name “Thamizhagam”. “He makes statements that are factually incorrect and potentially dangerous,” said DMK leader TR Baalu.

Though the governor’s Pongal invite came out a few days ago, it has left the DMK and its allies fuming, particularly after he walked out of the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday after Chief Minister MK Stalin moved a resolution against him for “deviating from his speech”.

Last year’s invite was fine: Left MP

CPI (M) MP Su Venkatesan shared screenshots on Twitter comparing two invites from the Governor’s house. He said the invitation for Pongal referred to him as “Thamizhaga Aazhunar” while an earlier invite had mentioned him as “Tamil Nadu Governor”. “The Pongal invitation from the Governor’s House last year said Governor of Tamil Nadu. However, the fresh invitation for the Pongal festival says Thamizhaga Governor. He should leave the state at the same speed as he left the House yesterday. He should be expelled,” said the Left leader in his tweet.

Also read: TN guv RN Ravi skips portions of customary speech in Assembly, invites ire of govt

Governor sparked row last week

The controversy broke out at an event last week when Governor Ravi had said, “Everything applicable for the whole of the country, Tamil Nadu will say no. It has become a habit. So many theses have been written – all false and poor fiction. This must be broken. Truth must prevail. Tamizhagam is a more appropriate word to call it. The rest of the country suffered a lot of devastation at the hands of foreigners for a long time.” Tamil Nadu means “the nation of Tamils” while Thamizhagam means the “abode of the Tamil people” and is the ancient name for the region.

TN govt’s equation with governor set to worsen

The fresh controversy is all set to take a further toll on the already deteriorating equation between the Tamil Nadu government and the Governor, particularly in the aftermath of a dramatic escalation in confrontation between the two on the floor of the House on Monday. Ravi’s walkout in the Assembly was manifestation of his protest after Stalin urged the Speaker to record only the printed speech prepared by the Tamil Nadu government and approved by the governor.

The Governor edited bits, skipping references to secularism, social justice and women empowerment, besides names of leaders like Periyar and BR Ambedkar, while reading out his speech in the assembly. In their protests, DMK allies shouted “Tamil Nadu” repeatedly in the assembly. The hashtag #GetOutRavi also trended on Twitter for a brief period.

No end in sight to slugfest

Interestingly, there seems no end in sight to the ongoing slugfest between the two sides, as the Governor added to the name row with his fresh remarks at an event on Tuesday morning (January 10).

Slamming the ruling DMK for addressing the Central government as “Ondriya Arasu” in Tamil, the governor said, “It belittles the Union government, as in Tamil, Ondriyam also refers to a block or a small place. This issue is only in Tamil Nadu.” (Ondriyam in Tamil means union and blocks. Ondriya Arasu clearly refers to the union government).