Tamil Nadu governor suspends DMK worker after “go to Kashmir” remark

Chennai/New Delhi:

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has filed a defamation case against a suspended worker of the ruling DMK party for his controversial remarks, officials have said.

Sources say that Governor RN Ravi filed a case against DMK worker Shivaji Krishnamurthy in a Chennai court yesterday.

Shivaji Krishnamurthy had made alleged derogatory remarks against the governor earlier this month after leaving out parts of the government-approved speech in the state assembly.

Using abuses for Governor Ravi, Mr. Krishnamurthy had said that if he could not name Ambedkar, he should go to Kashmir, so he would be shot by extremists.

“Didn’t you take oath in the name of the Constitution? Wasn’t it Ambedkar, my grandfather, who wrote it? If you don’t say his name, you go to Kashmir. We’ll send an extremist ourselves. Let’s gun him down.” pour,” Shivaji Krishnamurthy said while addressing a party meeting

Distancing itself from the controversy, the DMK last week suspended him for “violating party discipline and bringing disrepute to the party”.

The governor and the state government are at loggerheads, with the ruling party accusing Mr. Ravi of acting at the behest of the BJP. Hostilities escalated when on 9 January the governor went off-script while reading an official speech approved by the government in the assembly.

The governor omitted parts of the speech that referred to secularism, and referred to leaders such as Periyar, BR Ambedkar, K Kamaraj, CN Annadurai and Karunanidhi.

He also reportedly did not read the reference to the ‘Dravidian model’ that the DMK promotes and displays.

RN Ravi walked out in a huff without waiting for the national anthem after Chief Minister MK Stalin moved a motion to take on record only the transcripts distributed to the members.

The chief minister said the governor’s action was “against the conventions of the assembly” and urged President Draupadi Murmu to intervene and ensure Governor Ravi abides by the constitution.

DMK’s allies like Congress have also demanded the recall of the governor.