The State Platform for Common School System-Tamil Nadu condemned RN Ravi’s action and demanded his removal for ‘violating his oath of office’
CHENNAI – Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has triggered a fresh controversy with his remarks urging students to chant “Jai Shri Ram” during an event at Madurai’s Thiagarajar Engineering College, a government-aided institution.
Ravi was the chief guest at the college’s literary contest on Saturday. A purported video clip of the event shows him congratulating the winners. “This gives us the confidence that our roots are strong. It is there and we need to build on it. We take this as a movement,” he said, before going on to add, “You chant after me, Jai Shri Ram.”
Prompted by him, the students then chanted the slogan thrice.
The governor’s action has started a tug-of-war between representatives of Aryavarta and the people living in Dravidstan or Tamil Nadu.
In Tamil Nadu’s educational curriculum, particularly in the Tamil language, “Kambar’s Ramayanam, written by Tamil poet Kambar, is being taught, which is very different from the Ramayana written by Valmiki and later by Tulsi Das.
Tulsi Das’s Ramayana has transcended from a work of fiction to “religious scripture” in Aryavarta. But, the Kambar Ramayana remains a work of literature in Tamil Nadu.
The State Platform for Common School System (SPCSS), an organisation comprising educationists, in a statement, has demanded the immediate removal of Tamil Nadu governor from his post for “violating his oath of office.”
“Mr RN Ravi was invited as the chief guest in his capacity as the governor of the state of Tamil Nadu. He was not invited as a preacher of a particular religion. He was not asked to give a religious sermon,” the statement said.
The SPCSS pointed out that the college where the governor made the students chant the ‘Jai Sri Ram’ slogan was functioning out of the grant-in-aid provided by the state and the Union governments.
“Education is a secular activity, and in official functions, the students should not be given any religious instructions and no one should instruct students to chant the name of a god of a particular religion,” the SPCSS said.
It added, “After being slammed by the Supreme Court for blocking the bills passed by the state government, the governor is now resorting to stunts like this.
“The students passively obeyed the governor’s command to prevent unnecessary embarrassment to him.”
The SPCSS statement said, “Governor Ravi is illiterate in terms of his knowledge of the curriculum and syllabus followed in Tamil Nadu’s schools and colleges. Due to his ignorance and arrogance, he continues to propagate wrong ideas aimed at disturbing peace and instigating one group against another.”
The governor, without the basic knowledge of how students learn the religious text in a secular environment, was making “misguiding statements,” the SPCSS concluded.
Ravi, after taking the post of the Governor of Tamil Nadu on September 18, 2021, has courted several controversies that have had a huge fallout in the state.
In April 2023, Ravi proclaimed that when a governor withholds assent to a Bill passed by the assembly, it means the “Bill is dead”.
In February 2022, Governor Ravi said, “I will never clear the NEET Bill.’ He returned the Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill 2021 to the Assembly Speaker for reconsideration by the legislators.
On June 29, 2023, Governor Ravi unilaterally “dismissed V. Senthilbalaji from the Council of Ministers with immediate effect.” Later, he hurriedly backtracked on his decision.
In March 2024, the governor refused to reinstate K Ponmudy into the Cabinet, even after the Supreme Court had suspended his conviction in a corruption case. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud slammed Governor Ravi for “defying the Supreme Court order” by refusing to reinduct Ponmudy in the Cabinet.
On October 25, 2023, a man hurled a Molotov cocktail at the main gate of the Raj Bhavan in Chennai. The police overpowered the accused and took him into custody. However, the Raj Bhavan claimed that more than one person was involved in the attack. Subsequently, the National Investigation Agency, after a thorough probe, rejected the Raj Bhavan’s claim.
The spat between the governor and the Tamil Nadu government and its people reflects upon the BJP government’s efforts to impose Hindi–Hindu-Hindustan ideology on ancient South Indian cultural identity. It may be a vote-catching gimmick for the BJP, but it does a disservice to the cultural diversity in India.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is based in Chennai. The views expressed here are the writer’s own and Clarion India does not necessarily subscribe to them. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com
