Tamil Nadu was created by the British, not Tamilians: Maharashtra Governor Radhakrishnan

Maharashtra Governor warns of extremist forces in Tamil Nadu and Punjab, emphasizes national unity and RSS influence.

Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan on Saturday (March 22, 2025) claimed that ‘extremist forces’ remain active in Tamil Nadu and Punjab, albeit in different ways.

Speaking at the launch of ‘Hedgewar - A Definitive Biography’, a book on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, authored by British-Indian writer Sachin Nandha, at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai, Mr. Radhakrishnan highlighted concerns about divisive narratives and stressed the importance of national unity.

“In Punjab, it is slightly different, but in Tamil Nadu, there are no weapons — their words act as weapons that could mislead youngsters,” he said. He criticised narratives suggesting that India was created by the British, arguing that India had been functionally and traditionally united long before colonial rule. “They don’t know the history that even Ashoka the Great had conquered up to Tamil Nadu. My arguments are based on the ground reality that India might have been created politically by the British, but functionally and traditionally, we were one much before the colonial rule.”

The Governor reflected on Tamil Nadu’s historical divisions, noting that the region was once split into Chera, Chola, Pandya, and Kongunadu kingdoms. “When Jainism was born, two-thirds of Tamils followed it. Today, only 40,000 Tamil Jains remain — but that is a different story. When Jainism spread, it spread on its own. Buddhism was also widely followed in Tamil Nadu. I tell them that Tamil Nadu was politically created by the British. No Tamilian created a single Tamil Nadu. Historically, Tamil Nadu was divided into Chera, Chola, Pandya, and even Kongunadu — they were separate kingdoms. If we keep dividing it further, it would be like boarding a town bus where you need to show your passport to get on and get off. That is the ground reality.”

He warned that such division could weaken India’s ability to assert itself internationally. “How many divisions can we make? Even in Maharashtra, Vidarbha is different, Konkan is different, and Marathwada is different. If we keep dividing like this, who will have the bargaining power to make demands? It is because we stand united as India that we can assert our interests on the international stage. If we were a small country like many in Europe, we would not have the same bargaining power,” he said.

Mr. Radhakrishnan said that he joined the RSS in 1973 when the late Suryanarayana Rao was the pracharak, and highlighted the influence of the RSS founder Dr. Hedgewar, recalling how he started the organisation with schoolboys. “People questioned whether these small boys could build a Hindu Rashtra, but he never worried. Today, RSS is one of the largest national corps, producing people who live for society and the country,” he said.

He further quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attributing Mr. Modi’s approach to the influence of RSS. “Our Prime Minister says it is because of RSS that he lives for others. That is the greatest thought and enthusiasm Doctorji (Hedgewar) injected in young minds,” he said.