In a sharp rebuke to Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai on Monday condemned the Governor’s act of asking students to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ during an event in Madurai, calling it a blatant act of majoritarian muscle-flexing and a violation of secular principles.
Speaking to ANI, Annadurai criticized the Governor’s repeated controversial conduct, saying,
“The governor has gone beyond his stay in Tamil Nadu. If he had some shame left in him, he would have resigned from the Governor’s post. He is trying to stroke controversy one after the other.“
He further questioned the double standards of public reaction, stating:
“Imagine if there was a governor from the Muslim community who asked students to chant ‘Allahu Akbar’. What kind of uproar it would have created?“
The DMK leader emphasized that educational institutions must remain secular, respecting the diversity of students:
“You go to a religious gathering and do whatever you want to do, nobody will question you. But in a college, there are students of every faith. This is flexing the majoritarian muscle. That does not work well for our democracy and secular fabric of the country.“
He also accused Governor Ravi of behaving like a “Hindutva fanatic”, asserting that such behaviour is unacceptable in Tamil Nadu:
“The governor is a constitutional functionary, and we expect him to uphold the Constitutional values. But what he has done here, he has trampled upon them.“
The controversy erupted after Governor Ravi, while attending an event at a private engineering college in Madurai on Saturday, ended his address by urging students to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ with him. The move drew swift political backlash.
Congress MLA JMH Hassan Maulana also joined the criticism, stating:
“The Governor’s remarks are highly condemnable. He is speaking the language of the RSS and the BJP, which does not suit the constitutional office he holds.“
This latest incident adds to a series of friction points between Governor Ravi and the ruling DMK government, which has frequently accused the Governor of overstepping his constitutional mandate and pushing a saffron agenda in the state.