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Once again a big ideological conflict has arisen in the politics of Tamil Nadu regarding language, culture and national symbols. Chief Minister Vijay on Thursday expanded his cabinet and distributed portfolios to 23 new ministers. But more than the echo of this historic cabinet expansion, the political controversy that started when the national anthem ‘Vande Mataram’ was played during the swearing-in ceremony is being discussed more. The main opposition party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has expressed strong objection to this, calling it a direct insult to the Tamil language and culture of the state.
Kanimozhi cornered TVK government, raised questions on remaining silent
DMK MP Kanimozhi launched a scathing attack on social media platform Calling it an insult to the state song, he wrote:
“For the second time, ‘Tamil Thai Vazhathu’ has been disrespected by singing the third song at the cabinet swearing-in ceremony of the TVK government, which deserves extreme condemnation. Last time this happened, the government had claimed that ‘such an incident will not happen again.’ So now seeing all this happening again before our eyes, why are the Chief Minister and his party silent?”
“Government is under pressure from Governor”, DMK’s serious allegation on Raj Bhavan
DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan alleged that Chief Minister Vijay’s government was working under pressure from Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. He directly described the Governor as an ‘agent of BJP’ and said that the Tamil Nadu government has no control over its own programs.
At the same time, senior DMK leader RS Bharathi expressed concern and said that during Stalin’s tenure, Tamil Nadu was number one in terms of development, but this government is keeping cultural protocols and Tamil identity at bay, due to which the state will lag behind. He also linked this controversy to DMK’s old ideological opposition to ‘Hindi and cultural imposition’ and the historic language movement of 1965.
MDMK leader Vaiko said – Vande Mataram has no place in government programs
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) veteran leader Vaiko has also taken a strong stand on the issue. He clearly said that ‘Vande Mataram’ is being deliberately imposed in the programs organized by the Governor. Vaiko insisted that in any official program of the Government of Tamil Nadu, the state song ‘Tamil Thai Vazhathu’ should be sung first and the national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ should be sung at the end of the program, there should be no room for any third song.
BJP’s sharp counterattack: Vijay, beware of anti-nationals who oppose ‘Vande Mataram’, Congress
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tamilisai Sundararajan gave a befitting reply to these attacking statements of the opposition. He slammed the opposition parties for criticizing the national song ‘Vande Mataram’. Along with this, he warned Chief Minister Vijay’s party TVK that they should be very cautious about alliance with Congress. Sundararajan said that the only motive of Congress is the hunger for power and the people of the country have rejected it due to massive corruption and misgovernance. The support of Congress may prove suicidal for the newly formed TVK government.
What was the government’s old argument?
It is noteworthy that even when CM Vijay took oath as the Chief Minister for the first time, this controversy had arisen. At that time, Tamil Nadu Minister Aadhav Arjun had clarified that ‘Tamil Thai Vazhathu’ had to be kept at the third position due to a new circular and protocol of the Central Government. He had then assured the public that this would not happen in the future, but the same scene being repeated again during the cabinet expansion has given the opposition an opportunity to corner the government.
On the other hand: ‘Vande Mataram’ mandatory in all schools and madrassas of West Bengal
Amidst this ongoing controversy in Tamil Nadu, a completely opposite and big news has come out from the eastern state of West Bengal. The School Education Department of the Government of West Bengal has made it completely mandatory to sing ‘Vande Mataram’ in the daily morning assembly in all government, aided schools and all madrassas in the state. After this historic and tough decision of the government, while Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has openly welcomed it, the leftist parties (CPI-M) have come out against it and are preparing to challenge it in the court.