L. Murugan, the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, has ridiculed the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu, questioning chief minister MK Stalin, “What will MK Stalin’s answer be? Will the Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin resign?”
This criticism arises in light of a recent incident involving Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi, who attended a Hindi Month valedictory event at Doordarshan Kendra in Chennai. During the event, singers mistakenly omitted the line “Thekkanamum adhil sirantha Dravida nal thiru naadum,” which means “the great Dravidian nation in the Deccan,” from the state anthem ‘Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu‘ (Invocation to Mother Tamil). DMK leader M.K. Stalin has been vocal in his disapproval, accusing the Governor of intentionally removing the term “Dravidian” while promoting Hindi, labeling him as having a “Dravidian allergy” and calling for his recall, alleging he has “deliberately insulted” the people of Tamil Nadu. He also made racist comments against the Governor saying that a person who doesn’t abide by the law and acts as per his wishes was not fit to hold that office and wondered if Ravi was a governor or an ‘Aryan’.
On 25 October 2024, a similar mistake occurred at a government function for the Chief Minister’s Fellowship Programme, overseen by Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin. Some performers mispronounced phrases of the Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu, necessitating a re-performance. Udhayanidhi attributed the errors to technical difficulties with the microphone, asserting that the anthem was ultimately sung correctly. He urged the media not to blow the incident out of proportion.
In response, Union Minister L. Murugan has commented that these incidents reveal a misguided attempt at communal politics disguised as the Dravidian model.
In this regard Union Minister of State L. Murugan via his X official account questioned, “An incorrectly sung Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu at a program attended by Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin. What’s the response Chief Minister @mkstalin is going to give? Will @Udhaystalin step down…?”
“Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and Tamil Nadu government officials participated in a program held at the Chief Secretariat, Chennai. At the beginning of the program, the Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu was incorrectly sung. After that they attempted to sing it again from the beginning, but for the second time they have sung incorrectly. Overall, the Tamil Thai Vazhthu was not sung properly during the program.”, he stated.
Adding further, Dr. Murugan said “Tamil Thaai vaazhthu was mistakenly sung in a DD Tamil TV program and the television that organized the show apologized for that. However, I would like to recall how Chief Minister MK Stalin, Deputy Chief Minister Udayanidhi Stalin and the DMK did low-level politics with that. M.K. Stalin was the one who forced the Hon’ble Tamil Nadu Governor @rajbhavan_tn RN Ravi to step down by throwing racist comments on him for attending the program as a special guest. He also demanded that the central government should sack the governor.”
“At present, the Tamil Thai greeting has been wrongly sung in a government function attended by his son Udayanidhi Stalin, what will M.K. Stalin’s answer be? Will Udhayanidhi Stalin resign after taking responsibility for wrongly singing the Tamil Thai greeting at a government function he attended? Or will M. K. Stalin depose his son Udayanidhi Stalin?”, he asked.
“The father and son who are blaming the governor who attended as a special guest in the matter of incorrectly singing of Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu, won’t they take responsibility if the same is incorrectly sung in the Tamil Nadu government program they lead? Based on this, will it be right to cast racist comments on them?”, he further questioned.
“In the press conference held after the event, when the reporters questioned it, Udhayanidhi Stalin blurted out, “Don’t make this issue a big problem.” Both the father and the son should now realize how they politicized the event in which the Governor participated and made it a big problem. Will the media, which has continuously debated the Governor’s program, talk about this? Is there one yardstick for the Governor and another for Udhayanidhi Stalin?” he asked.
“Good leaders’ beauty is pointing out and correcting common mistakes. It is the fake Dravidian model to politicize this issue by making communal politics. Not only the political party leaders but also the media should realize this.”, he advised.
துணை முதலமைச்சர் உதயநிதி ஸ்டாலின் பங்கேற்ற நிகழ்ச்சியில் தவறாக பாடப்பட்ட தமிழ்த்தாய் வாழ்த்து.
என்ன பதில் சொல்லப்போகிறார் முதலமைச்சர் @mkstalin..?
பதவி விலகுவாரா @Udhaystalin..?
சென்னை தலைமைச் செயலகத்தில் நடைபெற்ற தமிழ்நாடு அரசு நிகழ்ச்சியில் துணை முதலமைச்சர் உதயநிதி ஸ்டாலின்…
— Dr.L.Murugan (@Murugan_MoS) October 25, 2024