New Delhi: Tamil Nadu governor R.N. Ravi’s statements on Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s contributions to India’s independence were “like a joke”, former The Hindu editor N. Ram has said.
Ravi said during an event on Tuesday (January 23) commemorating Bose’s 127th birth anniversary that “India’s national freedom movement led by Mahatma Gandhi became a non-event after 1942”, the Times of India reported.
“If Netaji had not been there, India would not have become free in 1947,” Ravi added.
In an interview to the News18 Tamil Nadu news channel on Wednesday, Ram said that the governor’s statements were a distortion of history.
“Be it a governor or a chief minister, one has to read Indian history deeply. If they haven’t done this, they shouldn’t speak about it, especially not on [prominent] platforms. What he said is like a joke,” Ram said in Tamil during the interview.
He said that during the Quit India Movement that began in 1942, Gandhi went on a fast unto death that caused people across the country to “spontaneously” come out in support of Gandhi and other jailed leaders.
The movement Ravi referred to as a ‘non-event’ was actually the “epoch” of the Quit India Movement, Ram continued to say.
Trying to end or shove aside Gandhi’s “greatness” was a “shameful way to go”, he also said during the interview.
On Bose, Ram said that while he was a great leader of the freedom movement and symbolised sacrifice, his leadership of the anticolonial Indian National Army that was helped by Imperial Japan was not a “major contribution” to independence.
Bose was also wrong in judging that fascist leaders would help India, Ram added.
‘Not fit to be governor’
When asked about other controversial statements made by Ravi, including his alleged connection of ancient Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar with Hindu symbols, the former editor said “there was no difference between him [Ravi] and the RSS and BJP,” referring to the ruling party’s ideological fountainhead, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Ram also referred to Ravi’s practice of withholding assent on Bills passed by the Tamil Nadu legislature and said of the governor, “He is not fit to be governor in any state or Union territory.”
‘Opposition needs to put more effort after Ayodhya’
He said the BJP would use the Ayodhya Ram Temple in its campaign for the 2024 general election and that opposition parties such as the Congress, the Communist parties and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam would have to “swim against the tide” in the face of this, so to speak.
Ram said that some Shankaracharyas – Hindu religious leaders – had criticised the politicisation of the event, and concluded the interview by saying that India had a secular and republican constitution.
“No one individual can say that they are the permanent leader of the country in accordance with our constitution. It is another matter if one decides to go against the constitution,” he said.