War of words erupts as Tamil Nadu CM Stalin claims Hindi imposition over valedictory function; Governor hits back

New Delhi [India], October 18 : A war of words erupted over the celebration of the Hindi Month valedictory function along with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Chennai Doordarshan, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi hurled back at the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, stating that it was "unfortunately cheap" and "lowers the dignity" of the constitutional office of the Chief Minister following Stalin's "racist remarks" and allegations of "incorrect imputations" against the Governor over this issue.
Taking to social media platform X, Ravi on Friday said that he was constrained to respond over Stalin's remarks and "false imputations" against him, further stating that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's remarks had disrespected the "Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu."
The governor further mentioned that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Central government has made significant strides in promoting the Tamil language, both within India and internationally.
He also mentioned that he had undertaken several initiatives to advance the Tamil language in different states across the country, with the most recent efforts coming with the establishment of a Tamil diploma course at Gauhati University in collaboration with the Assam government.
"Hon'ble Chief Minister Thiru MK Stalin has issued a regrettable tweet this evening in which he made a racist remark against me and levelled false allegation of showing disrespect to Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu. He knows it well that I recite full Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu at every function and do so with reverence, pride and precision. He also knows that under leadership Hon'ble Prime Minister Thiru Narendra Modi, the Central govt has proudly created several institutions for spread of Tamil language and heritage within India including Tamil Nadu and several countries of the world. PM Modi took Tamil even to the United Nations," Ravi said in X.
"As a proud Indian I myself have taken numerous substantive initiatives to spread Tamil, the oldest and richest living language, in other states of the country, the latest being to set up , with cooperation of the Assam govt, a Tamil diploma course in Gauhati University for spread of Tamil in the North East. Making racist remarks and alleging incorrect imputations against governor by the chief minister is unfortunately cheap and lowers the dignity of the high constitutional office of the chief minister. Since he rushed to public with his racist remarks and false imputations, I am constrained to respond," the governor added.
This came following when the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, MK Stalin, slammed the governor and questioned if he was an "Aryan" earlier today.
"Governor? Are you an Aryan? Removing the word Dravidian and chanting Tamil Thai greetings is against the law of Tamil Nadu! A person who does not act according to the law and acts according to his will is not fit to hold that office. In the guise of celebrating India, the governor is insulting the unity of the country and the people of different races living in this land," Stalin said.
He also called for the recall of the governor for "deliberately insulting" the people of Tamil Nadu.
"Will the governor who suffers from Dravidian allergy ask them to leave out Dravidian in the national anthem? The Union Government should immediately recall the governor who is deliberately insulting Tamil Nadu and the sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu," he added.
Earlier today, MK Stalin raised concerns over linguistic diversity and representation and strongly condemned the celebration of the Hindi Month valedictory function along with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Chennai Doordarshan.
He also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasising that the Indian Constitution does not grant national language status to any language, and Hindi and English are only for official purposes. He suggests avoiding Hindi language programs in non-Hindi-speaking states.
"It has been announced that the closing ceremony of the Hindi Month celebrations and Golden Jubilee celebrations of Chennai Television will be held this evening at Doordarshan Tamil in Chennai, and Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi will be the special guest. This blatant attempt to impose Hindi is strongly condemned. India has 122 languages spoken by a significant number of people and 1599 other languages. There is no justification for celebrating only one language when India is a diverse country. In a country where more than 1700 languages are spoken, especially in a state where the world's oldest language, Tamil, is spoken only in Hindi, it will affect the country's diversity. The central government should not be responsible for this," he wrote.
He stated that in a multilingual country like India, celebrating the Hindi month in non-Hindi-speaking states was seen as an attempt to belittle the other languages.
Further in his letter, Stalin suggested that the Hindi language-oriented events could be avoided in the non-Hindi speaking states if possible or if allowed the celebration of the local language should also take place in respective states with equal warmth.
In response, the Tamil Nadu Governor addressed the issue of the language acceptance and noted that there are forces, both within and outside India, aiming to hinder the country's growth, following the strong opposition from the Tamil Nadu government.
Ravi acknowledged the changing perception of the Hindi language in Tamil Nadu and said that initially it met resistance but he later found that many students in the state have become proficient in Hindi. He emphasised that Hindi should not be viewed as an imposition but as a language to be celebrated alongside other languages.
"First, when I came here, Hindi was not a welcome language in Tamil Nadu but when I started meeting students, I was happily surprised that their Hindi was better than mine. There is a greater acceptance of Hindi among people of Tamil Nadu... Hindi is not a language of imposition of language in Tamil Nadu. Each language is to be celebrated. Each language is for all of us to be proud of," the governor said.