Puducherry Lt Governor says ‘strong measures’ to be taken on law and order front

Puducherry Lt Governor hints at strong law and order measures, emphasizes importance of Tamil language and cultural heritage.

Puducherry Lieutenant Governor C. P. Radhakrishnan, on Friday, May 10, 2024, hinted at taking “certain strong measures” on the law and order front in Puducherry.

“This is the first public meeting I am attending along with Chief Minister N. Rangasamy after taking charge as the Lt Governor. We will have to take certain strong steps on the law and order front, and for that, we need public support,” Mr Radhakrishnan said while inaugurating the Kamban Vizha at Kamban Kalai Arangam.

Mr Radhakrishnan was given additional charge as the Governor of Telangana and Lt Governor of Puducherry following the resignation of Tamilisai Soundararajan, who contested the Lok Sabha polls from south Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

Extending all support to the Chief Minister in discharging his duties, he said: “Together we should make Puducherry the best place in the country. People should cite Puducherry as an example of the best-administered place, and not Singapore or any other country. We should work towards making Puducherry the cleanest and [most] developed town in the world.”

Mr. Radhakrishnan, a former BJP member of Parliament, said this year’s Kamban Vizha was all the more significant as the event was being held after Lord Ram moved to his “natural abode,” in a reference to the construction of the new Ram Temple at Ayodhya. The Lt Governor said that after 500 years of struggle, the idol of Ram was moved to a place that was his due.

“When I am speaking about all of this, people might think that I am a religious fanatic, but I am not. I respect all religions, but I am only against forcible religious conversion,” the Lt Governor said.

He also stressed on the need to propagate Tamil. “English is necessary to communicate to the outside world but that doesn’t mean that we will acquire knowledge only when we speak English. It is also not necessary that we should speak English at home. One has to love his or her mother tongue as they love their mother,” he said.