Vibha Sharma
Chandigarh, January 10
A day after a public stand-off between Chief Minister MK Stalin and Governor RN Ravi in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, posters saying ‘Get out Ravi’ were spotted in Chennai on Tuesday morning.
“Tamil Nadu | Posters ‘Get out Ravi’ seen around Valluvar Kottam and Anna Salai in Chennai A ruckus broke out in Assembly y’day when Gov RN Ravi began his address. Later, after concluding his address, he walked out when CM alleged that the Gov skipped certain parts of the speech,” news agency ANI tweeted.
Reasons for the stand-off
On Monday, the Tamil Nadu Assembly saw unprecedented scenes with Ravi walking out while Stalin moved a resolution, seeking to take only the “on record” text of the Governor’s address circulated among MLAs and not his oral speech skipping several portions related to the DMK government.
Slogans started as soon as Ravi started his speech in the first session of the year, skipping portions, including reference to Dravidar Kazhagam founder Periyar, BR Ambedkar and former CMs K Kamaraj and CN Annadurai.
The left-out parts reportedly included sentences like “This government will continue to march in valour and vigour (the) Dravidian model of government”, “this state continues to be (a) haven of peace and tranquillity and free from any violence” and the parts suggesting that the Tamil Nadu fishermen jailed in Sri Lanka “were released only by efforts of the state government”.
The Governor wanted “state and union government” to be added and did not believe that there was no law and order situation in the state.
Stalin, however, asked the Speaker to take on record only the speech prepared by his government.
DMK leaders argued that the Governor’s address was meant to be read out of what the state government had prepared and that his duty was to fulfil constitutional obligations.
Reports, however, suggest that the Governor did voice objections on the speech given to him.
As Stalin asked for the original speech prepared by the government to be retained, Ravi walked out.
Ravi versus DMK, Tamil Nadu versus ‘Tamzihagam’
However, this was not the first time Stalin-led DMK government and Ravi were at loggerheads since he took charge as governor of the non-BJP ruled state.
Stalin had even submitted a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu, asking her to dismiss Ravi for not clearing Bills awaiting his assent.
The DMK government also boycotted events organised by Ravi to protest against the “delaying” of the clearing of Bills passed by the Assembly, including one seeking the abolition of NEET for medical admissions and the release of convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
The more recent trigger was Ravi’s suggestion that Tamil Nadu be called ‘Tamzihagam’, triggering a major political debate with Dravadian parties aligning against Ravi.
Tamil Nadu means “Tamil land” which some also read as “Tamil country”. “Tamizhagam” or “Tamiagam” means the “abode of the Tamil people”.
According to Ravi, “Tamizhagam” is a more appropriate name instead of Tamil Nadu.
Whether Tamil Nadu is a “country” or “home/abode of Tamils”, according to history and research papers, Tamizhgam or Tamilagam extended from Vengadam (Tirupathi hill) in the north to Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) in the south.
Bound by sea on the east and the west, it comprised modern-day Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and southern parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
“Everything applicable to the whole of the country, Tamil Nadu will say nohellip;It has become a habit. 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,” Ravi was quoted as saying while addressing a programme, triggering instant condemnation from Dravadian parties the DMK and AIADMK.
Dravidian parties say the name Tamil Nadu is connected to the Tamil language, tradition, politics and the way of life of the people living there. Tamil is not only spoken in Tamil Nadu but neighbouring Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia and parts of Vietnam as well, they say.
Apart from this, Ravi, a former IPS officer, is also said to have criticised the DMK-led government’s response to the Coimbatore car bomb blast.
