Tamil Nadu anthem misrendered at Udhayanidhi Stalin's event; BJP seeks CM’s response

Chennai: Tamil Thai Vaazhthu or state anthem of Tamil Nadu is back in the news, but this time, it is the DMK dispensation that is in the line of fire.

Misrendering of the song penned by Tamil poet Manonmaniam Sundaranar at an event presided over by deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin at the Secretariat has kicked up a row with BJP seeking an explanation from Chief Minister M K Stalin. This comes exactly a week after the word 'Dravida' was omitted while singing the anthem at an event presided over by Governor R N Ravi, leading to a massive row.

Friday also saw Stalin tearing into the Governor for being “averse to Dravidam” saying the dominant “Aryan forces” are not able to tolerate the rise of Dravidian parties who have created an awareness among the oppressed sections.

“There is this person (Governor). He will skip the term “Dravidian Model” from the speech given to him in the Assembly. When we tell him not to participate in Hindi month celebrations, he will sing the State Anthem by omitting the word Dravidam. Will your tongue become impure if you utter the word Dravidam?” Stalin asked. “If your stomach burns by hearing the word Dravidam, we will continue to do what we do,” the CM added.

Video clippings of the event show the singers, apparently government employees, mispronouncing words and fumbling more than once while singing the song at the start of the event. As the videos went viral, Udhay termed the error as a “technical fault” while dismissing suggestions that the song was “misrendered.”

“It was not misrendered. There was a technical fault and the microphone didn’t work properly. We couldn’t hear their voices a couple of times during the rendering. We made them sing the song again. After the Tamil Thai Vaazhthu, the national anthem was also rendered as per convention,” Udhay told reporters.

“Don’t create a problem unnecessarily, once again” he further added.

When Thekkanamum athirsirantha Dravida nalthirunaadum (loosely translated as the great country in the Dravidian land) was omitted by the troupe that sang the song penned at the Governor’s event last week, the DMK had gone to town accusing R N Ravi of “insulting” the people of Tamil Nadu and even demanding his recall from the state.

Notwithstanding Udhay’s “clarification”, the BJP, which had given the Governor the benefit of doubt, condemned the DMK government over the incident and sought action against those responsible, including the deputy CM.

“Under the deputy chief minister’s leadership, the Tamil Thaai Vazhthu was disrespected at a recent government event. This raises a critical question: What will Chief Minister M K Stalin who had previously criticized the Governor with severe racist remarks, now say in response?” BJP Tamil Nadu in-charge Arvind Menon asked.

He also said the incident starkly exposes the DMK fovernment's “hypocrisy regarding their professed commitment to the Tamil language and the people of Tamil Nadu.”

The controversy over a sentence being omitted from the state anthem at the event attended by Ravi led to a slanging match between the ruling and opposition parties in the two last week. While Stalin sought to know whether Ravi was the governor of Tamil Nadu or was he the ambassador of Aryans, the Governor hit back terming as “cheap”, “racist” and “incorrect imputations against him.”