TN politicians slamming Governor Ravi over his controversial statements

In an interview with an English newspaper, Governor Ravi criticised the Dravidian model of governance as an expired ideology that does not promote the concept of One India. Many DMK ministers and politicians are condemning the statement.

Governor's salary is from the State

Writer Arunan said, "I have read the entire interview given by the governor. It is not good for a Governor to make such a statement. If he wants to criticise the State government, he could very well resign from his Governor's post and become a State leader of the BJP. He may even form a new party to criticise the State government. A Governor's post is created by the Constitution of India. A Governor is not an elected member of the government."

"A Governor gets his salary from the State government. And he is not entitled to criticise the State. He is insulting the people of Tamil Nadu as well as the Constitution of India. It is not like he acknowledged the term 'Dravidian model' when he just read it. He is subjected to reading whatever is written by the State government. But he is accusing the State of making him read something that promotes the ideology of the State government. This is highly ridiculous. It's just a fancy post," he added.

The Governor should resign

''The Governor always addresses as 'My Government' because the content of his speech is prepared by the State governement. But the Governor stated that there is no such thing as a Dravidian government whereas the fact is that the government is formed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The word 'Dravidam' is part of the government,'' he pointed out, claiming that PM Modi describes the Union government he heads as a ''Hindu'' government. ''He's deliberately announcing that he was here to form a Hindu Rashtra, which is the policy of RSS,'' Arunan opined.

"Is then the President of the country allowed to speak against the Union government? I belong to a different political party, so I can criticise the Union government. But a President cannot do the same. The President only reads what is written in the document made by the Union government. Governor Ravi should try to understand this. How come a Governor could say that the ideology of Dravidianism is expired? He should explain his statement,'' the writer further said.

''If it is an expired ideology, how come DMK won the Assembly elections in 2021? The people elected the DMK to rule the government of Tamil Nadu. This is not at all good for a person who is in such a position to negate it. He should resign from his position," Arunan demanded.

Constitution amended to accommodate Dravidian ideology

Assembly Speake Appavu stated some historical data on this issue. He explained, "The social justice policy was developed during the era of the Justice Party." The Dravidian model was derived from this concept. Even today, the national graduation rate of women is 26%. But in Tamil Nadu, the rate is 71%. Tamil Nadu has a high literacy rate in India. This is only possible due to the Dravidian model of governance.

For the very first time, the Constitution of India was amended for Tamil Nadu. The reservation rate for education and employment for the Scheduled Caste people was 10%. Mrs. Shenbagam, a widow, requested the government for a seat at a medical college after her husband's demise. The case was led by lawyer Alladi Krishnaswamy. He was one of the members of the team led by Dr. Ambedkar to draft the Constitution of India. Even before Shenbagam applied to the college, her request was denied.

But the High Court and the Supreme Court ordered the government to allot a medical seat for Shenbagam. So, the concept of reservation was first sown by the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu by Periyar, Anna and Kalaignar. CM Stalin is on the path devised by them.

Stalin made reservation possible

There is no reservation for OBCs in the undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses offered by the State governments to the Union government. Only CM Stalin fought against this and made reservations available for the OBCs. There are 4,022 seats available in India for OBC students to study medicine and 1,000 seats in dentistry. Through this, CM Stalin has made an impact nationwide. So, the people are aware of the concept of social justice. That is the reason why the Governor is making such statements.

Dravidian model means 'social justice'

VCK MP Ravikumar said, "Dravidam is an ideology mixture of social justice, equality, democracy and independence." The term put forth by Dravidianism 'Social Justice' is mentioned three times in the Constitution of India. The word "equality" is mentioned 18 times in the Constitution. But there is no such word as 'Sanatanam', a term oft-repeated by the Governor, in the Constitution of India.

"The Governor continues to speak against Tamil and Tamil Nadu people. It's time that he should stop. He should act according to the Constitution of India. He is encouraging partition between the people," alleged Arunan.

When will 'One India' be created?

DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan stated, "I couldn't understand whether Governor Ravi is in India or in some other foreign nation. Even North Indian political parties are functioning based on the Dravidian model. The Dravidian model means that all human beings are equal. Governor Ravi is not aware of this Dravidian model concept. Why is he against this Dravidian model, which says that all human beings are equal? How come it is against One India? It is dangerous to separate people into four classes as per their ideology. One India was formed in 1947.''

''They are trying to bring the 'One Education System' all over India. Then how come the BJP-ruling States like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are so backward in education? How come Tamil Nadu is leading in education?" Elangovan sought to know.

Do we have to be like Edappadi?

State Congress leader K.S. Azhagiri states, "R.N. Ravi, as an ordinary individual, has the right to state that 'the ideology of the Dravidian model is expired.' But a Governor of a State does not have any right to comment like this. Tamil Nadu is standing tall among all other nations, only because it fought for social justice. No one can deny it. A Governor should never criticise a State government. This is totally wrong.''

''Governor Ravi mentioned that he respects M.K. Stalin as an individual but not his policies as a Chief Minister. They are expecting Stalin to behave like Edappadi Palanisamy. They couldn't tolerate Stalin as he is not behaving like Edappadi. And this is making them angry," alleged Azhagiri.