Black flags being waved at Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi will not be a one-off event, said Tamil Nadu State Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) R Mutharasan. This comes a day after the Governor was greeted with black flags at the Sri Abhirami Amirtha Kadeswarar Thirukadaiyur temple at Dharmapuram Adheenam Mutt in Myladuthurai, Tamil Nadu by activists from Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Dravida Kazhagam (DK), along with Communist Party of India (CPI) and CPI-Marxists (CPI-M) workers.
The protests came in light of the Governors' refusal to send the bill passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly, exempting the state from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions into medical courses. The Tamil Nadu administration, led by Chief Minister MK Stalin has long opposed NEET claiming it discriminates against students from marginalised backgrounds. Now, CPI State Secretary R Mutharasan has said that they will continue to raise black flags against the Governor wherever he goes until the NEET Bill is cleared by him for the President's assent. Mutharasan also told reporters that the Governor had "disrespected" the state's Assembly by refusing to clear the Bill twice. The members of the CPI, as well as that of the ruling DMK, had boycotted the At-Home reception held by the Governor at Raj Bhavan recently.
Mutharasan also commented on the imposition of Hindi by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the country. "The Union Home Minister Amit Shah is telling the people to learn Hindi with a dictatorial tendency. It is against the unity of the nation and not acceptable," he said.
