Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister and DMK general secretary Duraimurugan on Friday condemned Governor R.N. Ravi for what he described as defamatory remarks against the State government on the issue of a Scheduled Caste (SC) woman’s inability to take charge as panchayat president in Tirupattur district.
He said it was saddening that the Governor had made such a remark without taking cognisance of an order issued by the Madras High Court on October 7, 2021 which, according to him, prevented the woman from taking charge as the president of Naickaneri village panchayat in the district.
Pointing out that 4,357 posts in 12,525 village panchayats in Tamil Nadu have been reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (ST), he said Naickaneri was the only panchayat where the president could not take charge due to the High Court’s order.
‘Not out of concern’
He said it ill behoved the office of the Governor “to disturb the peace” prevailing in the State “by speaking like the spokesperson for the BJP and the RSS”. He alleged that the Governor made the remarks not out of concern for SCs and STs, but because he was perturbed that “the social justice principles of the Dravidian model [DMK] government” were preventing the BJP and affiliated organisations from gaining influence in the land of Tamils.
He said if the Governor was really concerned about SCs and STs, he should have condemned those who had approached the Supreme Court against Tamil Nadu’s legislation allowing qualified persons from all castes to become priests in temples.
Similarly, citing certain figures, Mr. Duraimurugan argued that the Governor should have raised concern over the sharp increase in violence against SCs and STs in BJP-ruled States like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
He said Tamil Nadu was the State that created the ‘Samathuvapuram’ for people from all communities to live in one place in harmony. He pointed out that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had constituted the State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. He recalled that it was during the tenure of Mr. Stalin as the Minister for Rural Development and Local Administration that elections were held in the village panchayats where they could not be conducted earlier [due to caste issues]. Mr. Duraimurugan said the conviction rate of cases filed for violence against SCs and STs in Tamil Nadu had increased to 9.12% in 2021-23 when compared to 7.15% between 2013 and 2020.
Urging Mr. Ravi to avoid making such remarks, Mr. Duraimurugan said the Governor could become a “political leader” if he wanted to say such things. He requested the Governor to focus on constructive work towards the State’s development by granting his assent to the Bills passed by the Assembly, and ‘sanction of prosecution’ for corruption cases pending against former Ministers from the AIADMK.
