THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as Governor Rajendra Arlekar defended the display of the image of Bharat Mata carrying a saffron flag in events attended by him, the state cabinet has urged him to ensure that nothing other than the national flag and national symbol are displayed during official events conducted at the Raj Bhavan.
Reminding the governor that displaying any other flag or symbol amounted to insulting the national flag and symbol, the cabinet urged him to issue the necessary directions to Raj Bhavan officials. In a letter to the governor, the state cabinet touched upon the circumstances leading to the adoption of the national flag and national symbol and the Constituent Assembly debates and a resolution on what the national flag should embody.
The cabinet referred to the speeches made by Jawaharlal Nehru and Sarojini Naidu during the Constituent Assembly debates on the national flag. While Nehru had said that there were no communal or social considerations behind adoption of the tricolour as the national flag, Naidu had maintained that only the national flag should represent the country in public places or official programmes.
Notably, the governor’s letter to the chief minister on the issue had also mentioned the Constituent Assembly debates. “When the Constituent Assembly adopted Vande Mataram as the National Song on January 24, 1950, the idea of Mother India received a constitutional mandate. The concept of Bharat Mata or Bharathamba evolved much before Independence and lives in the hearts of every Indian,” the governor had told the CM.
Meanwhile, the controversy over the display of the image refused to die down. In the wake of the Raj Bhavan seeking a report on the incident, the VC has demanded an explanation from the registrar. On Thursday, the registrar urged the police to lodge a case against the organisers for continuing with the event even after permission for it was denied.
Sree Padmanaba Seva Samithi, the organisers of the event, had petitioned the vice chancellor, pointing out that the registrar’s email on the event’s cancellation was sent at 6.39 pm when the governor was already on the dais. Such an action amounted to severe dereliction of duty and protocol violation, they said.
Pro-right wing Syndicate members Vinodkumar T G Nair and P S Gopakumar also petitioned the VC to take disciplinary action against the registrar.
They also demanded a police investigation to uncover the ‘conspiracy’ behind the attempt to disrupt the programme attended by the governor.
Meanwhile, Left-backed Syndicate members firmly backed the Registrar and said it was his duty to ensure that programmes in the university are conducted as per established guidelines. They also said the university will take all steps to ensure that its secular nature is protected and that such incidents do not recur.