Udhagamandalam: Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on Tuesday expressed concern over alleged "distortions" in the syllabi of the BA and MA courses in History and Political Science in state universities, and claimed that the curriculum was loaded with Dravidian movement stories.
There is "a total blackout of the national freedom movement in the syllabus," Ravi, who is the chancellor of state universities of Tamil Nadu, claimed while speaking at the valedictory of the two-day conference of vice-chancellors of state and private universities of Tamil Nadu at Raj Bhavan here.
Elaborating, the Governor said the people of Tamil Nadu played a leading role in the national freedom movement and thousands of freedom fighters from the state sacrificed their lives for the country. Several thousand youths from Tamil Nadu joined the Indian National Army of Netaji and fought against the British, and many sacrificed their lives, he said.
"The massacre of freedom fighters at Devakottai and Perungamanallur cannot be forgotten nor the resistance of the Poligars (feudal chiefs) and popular uprisings at Palayamkottai, in which several thousand Tamils were killed by the British," Ravi said.
Mahatma Gandhi visited the state more than 16 times and the Swadeshi Movement and Salt Satyagraha had a huge response in Tamil Nadu, and the people of the state played a leading role, he said. There was a huge uprising in Tamil Nadu when the British partitioned Bengal communally and this motivated the great freedom fighter V O Chidambaram Pillai to join the national freedom movement, he said.
"The Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Punjab outraged the people of Tamil Nadu and prompted young Kamaraj to abandon his studies and jump into the national freedom movement," Ravi stated.
"Tamil Nadu played a crucial role in the framing of the Constitution of free India. There are just a few illustrations. The impact of British rule on the social, economic, and political fabric of Tamil Nadu is totally blacked out from the curriculum. Instead, the curriculum is filled with the stories of Dravidian movement," Ravi said.
About the social and political awakening, he claimed that all the movements, especially the Ayyavazhi movement of Ayya Vaikundar, the Sanmarga movement of Vallalar, and the Nandanar movement led by Dalit leader Swami Sahajananda were "missed altogether."
Erasing the sufferings and sacrifices of millions of Tamils in the freedom of India and the suffering of countless people at the hands of the British is "an insult" to our countless martyrs and a denial of the true history and sacrifices of our forefathers, he said. This also weakened the sense of nationalism among our youth and fostered an eco-system that emotionally disconnected our youth from the national mainstream, Ravi added.