Tamil Nadu Governor Sues Suspended DMK Worker After “Go To Kashmir” Remark

According to officials, the defamation complaint was brought by the governor of Tamil Nadu, RN Ravi, against a DMK employee who has since been suspended for his inflammatory comments.

According to sources, Governor RN Ravi filed the charge against DMK employee Sivaji Krishnamurthy in a Chennai court yesterday.After the Governor ignored some of a speech given in the state assembly earlier this month that had been cleared by the government, Sivaji Krishnamurthy allegedly uttered the slurs against the governor.

“Didn’t you take an oath in the name of the constitution? Wasn’t it Ambedkar, my grandfather, who wrote it? If you won’t say his name, you go to Kashmir. We ourselves will send an extremist. Let him gun him down,” Shivaji Krishnamoorthy had said, addressing a party gathering.

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

If he can’t take Ambedkar’s name, Mr. Krishnamurthy had advised going to Kashmir where he would be assassinated by radicals while using foul language about Governor Ravi.

The Governor and the state administration have been at odds, with the ruling party alleging that the Governor was acting at the BJP’s direction. The tension increased on January 9 when the governor deviated from the script while delivering a formal speech to the assembly that had been approved by the government.

In his speech, the governor omitted passages that discussed secularism and named figures like Periyar, BR Ambedkar, K. Kamaraj, CN Annadurai, and Karunanidhi.

RN Ravi walked out in a huff, without even was members.

The Chief Minister said the Governor’s action was “against Assembly traditions” and urged President Draupadi Murmu to intervene and ensure Governor Ravi abides by the Constitution.

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

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