Tamil Nadu Governor hits back at CM for 'racist' remark & 'false claims'

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu CMM K Stalin Friday questioned Governor R N Ravi on the omission of the word " Dravida " from 'Tamil Thai Vaazhthu'. "In the guise of celebrating Hindi, the governor is insulting the unity and the people of different races living in this land... Will the governor, who suffers from 'Dravidian allergy' ask to leave out 'Dravidian' from the national anthem?" he asked.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said the omission undermined Tamil sentiments. Top echelons of Congress , PMK , MDMK, AMMK and MNM joined the chorus of protest while Union minister L Murugan defended Ravi, saying, "Everyone knows the governor recites 'Tamil Thai Vaazthu' with pride and precision at every function."

Governor Ravi said the CM had made a racist remark against him and levelled false allegations. "He knows it well that I recite full 'Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu' at every function and do so with reverence, pride and precision. Making racist remarks and alleging incorrect imputations against the governor is unfortunately cheap and lowers the dignity of the high constitutional office of the CM," he said, adding he was constrained to respond since the CM "rushed to the public."

Later, on the governor's "racist remark" allegation, Stalin said: "It is the land that laid the foundation for the first Constitution amendment with a history of anti-Hindi protests. If the affection for our language is racism, it's our pride."

Raj Bhavan said the troupe had inadvertently missed the word, and the governor had no role in it. DD Tamil apologised for the "inadvertent mistake".