Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi has stirred controversy after urging students to chant “Jai Shri Ram” during an event at a private engineering college in Madurai on Saturday.
Ravi, who was attending the event as chief guest, concluded his speech by asking the students to repeat the religious slogan after him.
The move drew sharp criticism from opposition leaders, with Congress MLA JMH Hassan Maulaana calling the Governor’s actions “highly condemnable.”
“The Governor is occupying 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 told ANI.
“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,” Maulaana added.
He also referred to a recent Supreme Court observation, stating that the Governor had already been pulled up by the top court for acting in an “unconstitutional, illegal, and erroneous” manner by delaying assent to 10 bills passed by the State Assembly.
Meanwhile, during the same event, Governor Ravi also criticised a senior DMK leader for using “vulgar and contemptuous” language.
“We recently witnessed an individual holding a high position in the ruling government use deeply vulgar, mocking, and offensive language towards women. Such behaviour is not only unbecoming of a public figure but is utterly unacceptable and shameful,” he said.
“It is deeply disturbing that we have come to a point where someone in a position of authority can speak about women in such derogatory terms. This is not just unacceptable–it is a dangerous trend,” he added.
Without naming the leader, the Governor said, “The gentleman—I use that term with great reluctance—has not only humiliated and insulted women but has also directed contemptuous remarks at devotees of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu.”
The comments came in the wake of the DMK removing State Forest Minister K Ponmudy from his post as deputy general secretary after his controversial remarks targeting women and two major Hindu sects, Shaivism and Vaishnavism.
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