Tamil Thai Vazhthu row: Why didn't you correct it on stage, Stalin counters Governor Ravi's claims

CHENNAI: Hitting back at Governor R N Ravi for calling his reaction to the Tamil Thai Vaazhthu row ‘racist’ and ‘unfortunately cheap’, Chief Minister M K Stalin said that the gubernatorial head of the state must have condemned the omission of ‘Dravidam’ during the rendering of Tamil Thai Vaazhthu at DD Tamil event as it happened.

Stalin also advised the governor to free himself of divisive forces and act in accordance with the Constitution if he intended to continue as the state governor.

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In a long message posted on his ‘X’ page a few hours after the governor reacted to his initial condemnation statement, Stalin said, “Shouldn't you, who say 'I will sing Tamil Thai Vaazhthu with full devotion', have immediately condemned the incomplete rendering of Tamil Thai Vaazhthu on the dais? Why did you not do it?” “The governor explaining that 'I will sing with pride' - could have rightly pointed out the mistake on the spot! You could have made them sing it correctly. Would there have been a backlash if you had done that exact thing?” the CM wondered, posing a long list of questions to the Governor.

Taking strong exception to the governor’s reaction that the CM’s condemnation statement was “racist and unfortunately cheap”, the CM said, “Governor, Tamil is our race! It is our lifeblood! Tamils ​​are the ones who gave their lives to save the Tamil language. It is the soil that laid the foundations of the First Constitutional Amendment and bears the histories of the Indian anti-imposition struggle. If the love for the mother tongue of this land is considered racist, we will take it as our pride.” Rejecting the governor’s claim that the BJP government has established various organizations to spread the Tamil language and its heritage within India including Tamil Nadu and in many countries of the world, Stalin asked, “What has the Modi government you claim to be celebrating Tamil done to the Tamil language? From 2013-2014 to 2022-2023, a total of Rs 2435 crore has been spent for the development of Sanskrit language, Rs.2029 crore for the Central Sanskrit University in Delhi and Rs.406 crore for the National Sanskrit University in Tirupati. This is two and a half times more than what was spent ten years ago. During the same period only Rs.167 crore was spent on development of Tamil language. In other words, only 7 percent of the expenditure on Sanskrit was allocated to Tamil.” Recalling various instances in the past when governor Ravi courted controversy, including proposing Tamilagam as a replacement for Tamilnadu and calling Dravidian model an expired ideology, the CM said, “When your history is like this, how can Tamils ​​believe that the omission of ‘Dravidar nal thirunaadu’ is accidental?”