Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on Thursday charged the followers of the Dravidian ideology with mocking the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
“During his lifetime Gandhi Ji was vigorously opposed and mocked by the followers of the Dravidian ideology. But should he be mocked even today?” Ravi asked in a social media post, painting the DMK and Chief Minister MK Stalin of not honouring the Mahatma in a befitting manner,” he alleged.
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Turning the 77th death anniversary of the apostle of peace into a controversy, observed as Martyrs’ Day, Ravi questioned the choice of the venue for holding the event to mark the occasion, the Government Museum adjoining the iconic Connemara Library in Egmore in the city.
In the past, Ravi had joined Chief Minister MK Stalin in paying floral tributes to the Mahatma at the same venue. But, this time around he stayed away and instead paid homage to the father of the nation at the Gandhi Mantap, in a sprawling campus close to the Guindy National Park, near the Raj Bhavan.
fter the event at Egmore Museum, the Chief Minister administered the pledge against untouchability at the State Secretariat, Fort St George, the Governor paid floral tributes to Gandhiji at the Raj Bhavan and later at the Gandhi Mantap where he also administered the pledge.
Instead of holding the event at the Gandhi Mantap, built by late Chief Minister and Congress stalwart K Kamaraj, why is it being held at a not so significant place is his grouse.
“Gandhi Mandapam is a grand memorial of the Father of the Nation built over a sprawling land adjacent to the Guindy National Park, Chennai by K Kamaraj in 1956. Does it make any sense to do Gandhi memorial events – birthday and martyrdom day in a corner of a city museum?
“My repeated requests to the Chief Minister to accord due respect to the Father of the Nation and hold such events in a befitting manner at the Gandhi Mandapam met with stubborn refusal,” read the post, in which the PMO and the Union Home Ministry were tagged among others.
