'Dravida' Omitted From State Anthem In Governor's Event, TN CM Stalin Asks Centre To Recall Him

Stalin raised concerns of linguistic diversity over celebrating Hindi and wondered whether Guv Ravi is 'Aryanar' for omitting 'Dravida' line in Tamil Thai Vaazhthu.

Chennai:Chief Minister MK Stalin wondered whether Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi is 'Alunar' or 'Aryanar', after an event presided by the figure-head of the state skipped a line comprising a reference to 'Dravida' in the State anthem. He also asked the centre to recall the governor.

'Alunar' means governor in Tamil.

'Aryanar' means a respected Aryan.

"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," Mr Stalin wrote in Tamil in a post on X.

Earlier, Stalin urged the Centre not to combine the golden jubilee of Chennai Doordarshan with that of Hindi month celebrations here. He has shot off an official letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over celebration of Hindi language month related events in non-Hindi speaking States, raising concerns over the linguistic diversity.

The DMK patriarch's communiqué asked the Centre to celebrate all the classical languages in their respective states and that it would enhance the cordial relationship among all states.

The DO letter from Stalin sought the attention of the PM towards the celebrations of Chennai Doordarshan's golden jubilee and tagging it with Hindi month Celebrations, scheduled for Friday. It noted that the event is being presided over by the Governor.

Governor's event skips 'Dravida' line from State anthem

The Governor's event deducted a couplet from the stanzas of 'Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu', the now State anthem. The line had reference to 'Dravida'. The singers who sang the anthem sang deducting a couplet -- Thekkanamum adhil chirandha Dravida nal thiru naadum (roughly translated to You are the elite Dravidian country in Deccan).

The song is an invocation in praise of Mother Tamil and was notified as State anthem by the Stalin government in 2021. As per the order, the song should be sung marking the beginning of any functions in all educational institutions, varsities, government offices, public sector undertakings and other public fora in the state, Stalin had said.

It also mandated that everyone barring the differently abled persons should remain standing when it is sung.

The decision followed a ruling of the Madras High Court which said, "There is no statutory or executive order requiring the attendees to stand up when Tamil Thai Vaazhthu is sung. But highest reverence and respect ought to be shown to Tamil Thai Vaazhthu."

Doordarshan says 'error is inadvertant, regretted'

Chennai Doordarshan campus where the truncated version of the State anthem was sung in deviation from its approved version, said the omission was a mistake and was not intended. Without mentioning which line was omitted, the DD's statement said a line was missed inadvertently missed. It maintained that it was a 'distraction' that has led to the omission and the singers had no intention to disrespect the state anthem.

"During the rendering of the Tamizh Thai vazthu, inadvertently a line was missed, which happened due to a distraction. We apologise for the inadvertent mistake. There was no intention from the singers to disrespect Tamizh or Tamizh Thai Vazhthu," the statment read. It also apologised to the Governor "for the inconvenience caused".

Hindi is not national language

"As you are aware, the Constitution of India does not accord national language status to any language. Hindi and English are used only for official purposes such as legislation, judiciary and communication between the Union Government and the State Governments," Stalin's letter read.

Considering these circumstances and the multilingual culture prevailing in India, Stalin advised against "according (a) special place to Hindi and celebrating Hindi month in non-hindi speaking States is seen as an attempt to belittle other languages."

'Encourage local language month'

The letter re-iterated the union government's decision to hold such Hindi language oriented events in non-hindi speaking States should be avoided. It also suggested that the union government could celebrate the local language month if it was keen on holding such events. "I suggest that celebration of the local language month in respective states must also be done with equal warmth," Stalin said in the letter.

In another recommendation, the CM said the Centre can "hold special events to celebrate the richness of all the Classical languages that it has recognized in the respective States. This could enhance the cordial relationship among all."

In a separate post on X, Stalin wrote: "I strongly condemn the celebration of Hindi Month valedictory function along with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Chennai Doordarshan."

Governor RN Ravi says CM's act 'cheap'

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi dubbed the act of Chief Minister MK Stalin as 'cheap'.

In a post on X by Raj Bhawan, Tamil Nadu, Ravi said, "Chief Minister MK Stalin has issued a regrettable tweet this evening in which he made a racist remark against me and levelled false allegation of showing disrespect to Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu. He knows it well that I recite full Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu at every function and do so with reverence, pride and precision."

"Making racist remark and alleging incorrect imputations against Governor by the Chief Minister is unfortunately cheap and lowers the dignity of the high constitutional office of the chief minister," Ravi said.

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