Chennai: Puncturing Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan's claim to the legacy of valorous Tamil women of yore, the DMK has mocked her asking whether fleeing from the neighbouring state out of fear and chest thumping in Tamil Nadu is courage.
Continuing the war of words with Tamilisai, the party mouthpiece made fun of her attempt to downplay her allegations against the Telangana government for disregarding the Raj Bhavan. It all started with Murasoli coming out with a broadside on Monday in response to her views expressed in an interview.
In that, the author under the pen name Silandhi (Spider), had warned that occupants of Raj Bhavan who overstep their limits and adopt a confrontational posture would face the fate of Tamilisai, which was seen as aimed at Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi as well.
Stung by this, she joined the issue saying “Neither was I insulted nor had I cried foul or raised an alarm. I am never shaken by anything. For, I am an inheritor of the valorous legacy of ancient Tamil women who chased away the tiger with a winnowing pan. And, it is surprising that some in Tamil Nadu can be gleeful at their sister being disrespected in another state?
In its rejoinder, Murasoli asked “Is running away from Telangana on sighting the tiger and waving the winnowing pan in Tamil Nadu an act of valour? Only governor Tamilisai should explain as to what kind of bravery is this?”
On her charge of some rejoicing at her predicament, the paper said, “We call out her political naivete not without reason. Had she earned a good name and brought laurels, we would have celebrated our sister. It is only normal in Tamil culture to proffer advice to correct one when they are engaged in squabbles.”
Further, the write up made it clear that 'Murasoli' had only followed the media reports on her being disrespected in Hyderabad. Citing video footage in YouTube in this regard, it dared her to deny using the word denoting “Humiliation”.
“That Raj Bhavan is not given due respect, information is not provided even when sought, it has become an untouchable place, leave alone the Chief Minister, on Republic day not even a district collector had attended the event at Raj Bhavan, it is not about me but the office of governor of a state,” is what had been quoted by the media.
On her contention that the office of Governor is a high one, it pointed out that she might hold it very high but the framers of the constitution had created it to be a ceremonial office and it had been defanged since the supreme court judgment in the SR Bommai case.
Moreover, it is not an elected office since governors are only appointed to the post. The framers were very clear that governors should not be a hindrance to the elected governments and appointees to Raj Bhavan, opting an adversarial role should understand that they do not have real powers, it added.
As early as in 1967, DMK founder and former Chief Minister CN Annadurai had called for the abolition of the office of Governor saying, “Beard for the goat and Governor for a State are unnecessary.” The happenings in Telangana have shown what would happen to paper tigers, the write up said, and it is not difficult to read between the lines.
