NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, APR 13
Days after getting the knuckles from the Supreme Court, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi stirred a fresh controversy after he urged students to chant “Jai Shri Ram” during an event at a private engineering college in Madurai on Saturday.
Governor Ravi was the chief guest at an event held at Thiagarajar Engineering College in Madurai on Saturday. At the end of his address, he asked students to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram,’ a video of which went viral on social media.
- A video of the event, which has since gone viral on social media, shows the Governor encouraging students to chant the religious slogan
- The move draws strong condemnation from the ruling MK Stalin-led government, with the party accusing Ravi of behaving like an “RSS ideologue”
Ravi, who was the chief guest at the college function, ended his speech to students with an unexpected call for the chant. In the video, Governor Ravi is heard saying, “Let us pay tribute to Lord Shri Ram. I say, and you say — Jai Shri Ram,” to which the students respond by chanting the slogan.
The incident triggered a row, with Congress MLA JMH Hassan Maulaana saying the Governor’s remarks were highly condemnable as he spoke the language of the RSS and the BJP.
He added that such remarks did not behove the constitutional post occupied by R N Ravi.
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“The Governor occupies one of the highest posts in the country, but he is speaking like a religious leader. He has become a propaganda master of the RSS and the BJP. See, this is not the way the Governor can act,” the Velachery MLA said.
“What the TN Governor is doing is highly condemnable; he is acting like an RSS face in Tamil Nadu and spreading its ideology. The position he holds is a constitutional post, so he has to remain neutral,” he added.
In a post on X, senior Congress leader Sasikanth Senthil said, “After being slammed by the Supreme Court and blocked by the State Government, he’s now resorting to stunts like making students chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ just to irritate the system.”
“Clearly frustrated, he’s sending a message that ‘even if the courts rule against me, I will find other ways to push my agenda.’ It’s a dangerous mix of arrogance and defiance that undermines democratic institutions and the principles of the Constitution,” a rough translation of his post in Tamil read.
The move has drawn strong condemnation from the ruling MK Stalin-led government, with the party accusing Ravi of behaving like an “RSS ideologue”.
DMK spokesperson Salem Dharanidharan said Ravi’s action goes against the Constitution of the country. “It’s baffling that the Governor would visit an engineering college and make students chant words of a particular religion. India being a secular country, it goes against our Constitution to impose such religious colours at a college event.”
