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Journalism of Courage
Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi has sparked yet another controversy by sending out invitations for the Pongal festival with the Union Government’s logo rather than the state government’s, and referring to himself as ‘Tamizhaga Aalunar’ or the governor of Tamizhagam. The governor’s suggestion to rename the state from Tamil Nadu to ‘Tamizhagam’ last week had sparked anger in both the ruling DMK and the Opposition AIADMK.
The controversy over the invitation broke out Tuesday, a day after the governor and the government came to a confrontation in the Assembly. On Monday, Governor Ravi’s changes to a prepared speech he read out in the Tamil Nadu Assembly saw Chief Minister M K Stalin step in and demand that only the original speech be put on record, prompting the governor to stage a walkout.
In contrast to invitations issued by the Raj Bhavan in the past that bore the emblem of the Tamil Nadu government, the emblem in the latest is that of the Union Government.
Madurai MP Su Venkatesan, who shared the invitation on Twitter, said that there were differences between the invitation sent last year and now. The Communist leader further added that the Tamil Nadu emblem is avoided in this year’s invite from Raj Bhavan as it carries the phrase Tamil Nadu.
Governor Ravi and his wife Lakshmi Ravi are the hosts of the ‘Pongal Peruvizha (festival)’ that will take place on January 12 at the Chennai Raj Bhavan.
While it has been common to use the word ‘Tamizhagam’ especially when discussing matters pertaining to the state, such as when referring to the chief minister as ‘Tamizhaga Muthalvar’ (Muthalvar means CM), the word has become problematic ever since governor Ravi’s announcement to rename the state was interpreted as a political stance in support of the BJP and against Dravidian politics.
The word ‘Tamizhagam’ was observed taking on a new contentious face and tenor at one of the recent functions that the state health minister Ma Subramanian attended at T Nagar in the city. After referring to the state twice in his speech using the word ‘Tamizhaga…,’ he was seen quickly correcting himself and remarking that “these days, this word itself can create trouble”.
