Editorial: Crossing the secular line

TN Governor RN Ravi, in his personal capacity, is entitled to hold any views but airing them publicly erodes the dignity of the office he holds

The role of Governors has been increasingly coming under scanner in the last few years because of their blatant partisanship, frequent run-ins with the State governments and constitutional overreach. Rubber-stamp Governors guilty of arbitrarily dismissing State governments during Congress regimes in the past can be no justification for the current misuse of gubernatorial positions. The NDA government’s oft-repeated claim of ‘Team India’ spirit flies in its face as the constitutional positions have been turned into political tools to target the non-BJP governments. Specifically, the conduct of Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has been deplorable. He has been at loggerheads with the DMK government in the State on various issues. Often rude and impulsive, the Governor has made it a habit to stoke controversies and display a shocking disdain for established value systems. He has done it again, this time with his controversial comments on secularism. Arguing that secularism is a European concept, Ravi remarked that it has no place in India. This is mischievous and unacceptable. In fact, airing such views undermines the office he holds because the Constitution adopted secularism as the guiding principle. Rejecting it would amount to violation of the Constitution which establishes India as a secular state and separates religion from politics. Ravi, in his personal capacity, is entitled to hold any views but airing them publicly erodes the dignity of the office he holds. It’s a breach of his constitutional responsibility. Any attempt to weaken the country’s secular fabric needs to be confronted with full force.

While there is no doubt that secularism has been misused by political parties for electoral purposes, it would be preposterous to abandon what forms the bedrock of our Constitution. It is rather ironic that those entrusted with the responsibility of upholding the Constitution are either ignorant of the fundamentals of the rule book or deliberately defiant. In both cases, it is problematic. The misuse of the office of Governor has a long history in India. If it was the Congress which went about toppling the opposition-ruled States in the past using the Raj Bhavan as a political tool, it is the NDA which is the culprit now. The allegations against Governors for being partisan and discriminatory have increased in the last few years. Be it in Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh or Punjab, the tussle has been intensifying over a plethora of issues including unnecessary intervention of the Governors in the day-to-day administration and deliberate delays to give assent to the Bills. In their overzealousness, some Governors have chosen to unveil their ideological makeup and political baggage. When they overstep the bounds of office, Governors give credence to the charge that they are agenda-driven. The loss of credibility and trust in this vital component of the federal structure can have grave repercussions for the Centre-State relations.

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