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Is Governor R.N. Ravi using constitutional office to challenge Tamil Nadu’s cultural autonomy?

Is Governor R.N. Ravi using constitutional office to challenge Tamil Nadu’s cultural autonomy?


On January 6, Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi completed a hat trick of walkouts from the Legislative Assembly. He claimed that the national anthem was not played, as per his request, at the beginning of his official address. Instead, the Tamil Nadu State anthem, “Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu” (Invocation to Mother Tamil), was sung.

In February 2024 too, he had walked out of the Assembly on the same pretext, refusing to give his speech since only “Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu” had been sung.

In 2023, the Governor had refused to read out the names of Periyar (E.V. Ramasamy Naicker, the revolutionary social reformer), Anna (C.N. Annadurai, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister), B.R. Ambedkar, and Kalaignar (M. Karunanidhi, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu). He gave no reasons but later told a newspaper that the speech given to him was “full of materials where it was neither policies nor programmes, but propaganda. They were inaccurate, they were lies.”

It was only in 2022 that Governor Ravi did not use the customary Governor’s address in the Assembly for political ends.

The reason for the Governor’s walkout this year was elucidated in a Raj Bhavan note posted on the social media platform X: “The Constitution of Bharat and the National Anthem were once again insulted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly today. Respecting the National Anthem is among the first Fundamental Duty as enshrined in our Constitution. It is sung in all the state legislatures at the beginning and the end of Governor’s address. Today on arrival of Governor of the House only ‘Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu’ [invocation of the Tamil Mother] was sung. Governor respectfully reminded the House of its Constitutional duty and fervently appealed to the Hon’ble Chief Minister who is the leader of the House and the Hon’ble Speaker for singing the National Anthem. However, they cussedly refused. It is a matter of grave concern. Not to be a party to such brazen disrespect to the Constitution and the National Anthem, Governor in deep anguish left the House.” Interestingly, the post appeared on X just minutes after the Governor walked out of the Assembly.

The Raj Bhavan handle, which posted the message, also tagged the Prime Minister’s Office, the Union Home Minister, the Union Ministry of Information, the Press Information Bureau, Doordarshan, Doordarshan Tamil, All India Radio, All India Radio Chennai, Central Bureau of Communication, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Press Trust of India, and, intriguingly, Asian News International, whose broadcasts are known to be supportive of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Subsequent to the walkout, the Speaker M. Appavu read out the Governor’s speech. Soon after the Governor left the House, the BJP staged a walkout. The main opposition party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), had already been evicted from the Assembly as they raised slogans over the sexual abuse of a girl student of Anna University. In effect, there was no formal protest inside the House when the Speaker began reading out the Governor’s speech. As per tradition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, the Speaker reads out the Tamil version of the Governor’s address, in full, after the Governor completes his speech.

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Appavu said later: “This August House has always followed traditions…Delivering the address in the Assembly is a duty of the Governor under Article 176 (1) of the Indian Constitution…The Governor had come to the House to fulfil this duty.” After Appavu completed reading the Governor’s address, the national anthem was sung.

Lawyer and constitutional expert Sanjay Hegde, responding to the Governor’s contention that the national anthem was insulted, said: “The national anthem would have been sung at the conclusion. Your [R.N.Ravi’s] real problem was that ‘Tamil Thai Vaazhthu’ was being sung and was customary from much before your time. I am sure that you will walk out of an RSS meeting if ‘Namaste Sada Vatsale Mathrubhume’ is sung before the national anthem.”

Governor’s action ‘childish’: M.K. Stalin

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin called the Governor’s action “childish” in his response on X, and wrote: “According to the Constitution, it is a tradition… for the State governor to read the address at the beginning of the year. This Governor has made it a custom to violate it. It is childish that the Governor, who, in earlier years, had cut out what was there in the address and added whatever he wanted, has left without reading the address. The Governor’s actions, continuously insulting the people of Tamil Nadu, and the government elected by the people… is unbecoming of the position he holds.” The Chief Minister also wondered why someone unwilling to do his job was still holding office.

Senior Minister Duraimurugan, who is also the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) general secretary, informed the House that Speaker M. Appavu had already informed the Governor last year itself that the tradition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly was to sing “Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu” at the beginning of a function and the national anthem at the end of a function. That the Governor had chosen to walk out again this year for the same reason, Duraimurugan said, makes his motive questionable. He added that “this House and the people of Tamil Nadu have deep respect and regard for the national anthem and the country” and the Governor’s act was against the letter and spirit of the Constitution.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah with R.N. Ravi, then Nagaland Governor, in New Delhi on September 27, 2019. Ravi refused to interact with the media while in Nagaland, leading to the Kohima Press Club boycotting his official farewell.
| Photo Credit:
PIB/PTI

On the question of following the Constitution, Sanjoy Ghose, lawyer, notes: “Nothing prohibits a State from adopting a state anthem…The Constitution of India, until the 42nd Amendment, which introduced Article 51A did not contain the term national anthem… The action of the Tamil Nadu Governor of walking out of the Assembly is indeed shameful and if we were a functional democracy, he would have been recalled.”

Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam leader and actor Vijay commented on the controversy, taking the position of the Dravidian majors, the DMK and the AIADMK. He said that it was a long-standing tradition of the Assembly to sing “Tamil Thai Vaazhthu” at the beginning and the national anthem at the end. “Whoever is appointed Governor by the Union Government, he or she should preserve the traditions of the Tamil Nadu Assembly. Every time the Legislative Assembly meets, there is a constant trend of conflict between the Governor and the government over traditions. This is not good for democracy. Discussions should be on issues that affect the people,” he said in a release.

“The Governor insulted the national anthem,” said Transport Minister S. Sivashankar. “No Governor in independent India has behaved like this,” he added. “The Governor’s actions today reek of political drama, showing how yet another institution is being misused by the RSS,” said Congress MP Manickam Tagore. Member of Parliament and Congress leader Sasikanth Senthil said that in Tamil Nadu it has “long been a tradition to honour ‘Tamil Thai Vaazthu’ at the start of legislative sessions and government programmes, followed by the national anthem at the end. By refusing to adhere to this practice, the Governor has displayed blatant disregard for the customs and sentiments of the State.”

As expected, the Governor’s action has created a huge political divide, with the BJP and its sympathisers claiming that the DMK is “anti-Bharat” and that such actions were giving rise to divisive tendencies. Recent converts to the BJP such as C.R. Kesavan and K. Annamalai wondered why “Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu” had been sung at the beginning of functions only since 1991, even though the DMK came to power in 1967 and subsequently adopted this as the State song. In 1991, soon after Jayalalithaa assumed office as Chief Minister, the government introduced a rule that stated that “Tamil Thai Vaazhthu” would be sung at the beginning of functions and the national anthem at the end. This has not been a point of confrontation for the 10 Governors the State has seen since 1991. It is R.N. Ravi who has made an issue of it. Maharashtra and Odisha have State anthems too.

R.N. Ravi: No more the ‘quiet chap’

Governor R.N. Ravi is a former Indian Police Service officer from the Kerala cadre, who completed a large part of his service with the Intelligence Bureau. After retirement, he served as Governor in various States and has made no secret of his sympathies for the BJP government at the Centre. Since 2014, most Governor positions have gone to former BJP leaders or officials with RSS or BJP sympathies. Ravi was the Governor of Nagaland before being posted to Tamil Nadu. Taking a hint from the Prime Minister, Governor Ravi too refused to interact with the media while in Nagaland, leading to the Kohima Press Club boycotting his official farewell.

A former Intelligence Bureau official noted that the change in Ravi was a big surprise to him. He told this correspondent that Ravi was almost always “the quiet chap in the background” and “a person who knew the north-east [region] very well.” With the rise of Ajit Doval as National Security Advisor, things brightened up for Ravi, he said, but his avid BJP supporter role still seemed out of character.

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Since taking over as Tamil Nadu Governor, Ravi has made charged political comments, ignoring the rules of conduct of the Governor’s chair. He has termed the Dravidian model of governance “an expired ideology”. He has held up legislation by refusing to give his assent to Bills. On occasion, he has sent back Bills, such as the one on Tamil Nadu’s exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, the pre-medical entrance examination, which had to be adopted again by the Assembly in exactly the same form and sent back for his consideration.

The matter of Bills pending assent was taken to the Supreme Court by the Tamil Nadu government. The court, on November 10, 2023, expressed “serious concern” over the delay in giving assent to Bills passed by State Assemblies. “These Bills were pending since 2020. What was he doing for three years?” the court asked.

In under a year after he was posted, the DMK demanded his removal twice. The party again approached President Droupadi Murmu to hand over a letter seeking his removal in 2023. This year, the party has renewed the demand, with Statewide agitations on January 7 demanding his recall.



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