RECEPTION FOR GOVERNOR: Governor S.S. Barnala (centre), with Environment Minister T.P.M. Mohideen Khan (right) and Prince of Arcot Mohammed Abdul Ali, in Chennai on Monday. — Photo: S. R. Raghunathan

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Governor S.S. Barnala on Monday appealed to the people to preserve unity by promoting national integration. With sectarian and communal tendencies raising their ugly head and threatening the country's unity, it was the people's patriotic duty to do so, he stressed.

Speaking at a reception hosted in his honour by the Prince of Arcot, Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali, on Mr. Barnala's appointment as the Governor of Tamil Nadu for another term, he pointed out that the recent blasts on trains in Mumbai were not isolated incidents. The serial blasts showed that they were not the work of a single person.

He recalled the bad times Punjab went through due to militancy. The militants did not succeed, as people became disenchanted with them and began providing the security forces with information about militants; within a couple of years peace was restored in Punjab. It was one of the most peaceful States now.

Mr. Barnala stressed the need for a feeling of brotherhood and unity among the people. The Governor paid glowing tributes to The Hindu which he said was a first rank nationalist newspaper. In Punjab, he once took up the newspaper thinking it was a communal paper. But it was not so. The Hindu was the first thing he read now.

Committed to values

N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu , said Mr. Barnala was one a man committed to constitutional values, humanistic values and principles of justice. Mr. Barnala had participated in the freedom struggle. He was imprisoned during the "anti-people" Emergency. He consistently advocated secularism and was a distinguished lawyer. He was the first Governor in Indian constitutional history, who refused to bow to pressure when President's rule was sought to be "fraudulently imposed" on Tamil Nadu in 1991. He refused to sign on the dotted line. It raised the stock of the institution of the Governor in India.

Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali said Mr. Barnala was widely travelled and represented India at the United Nations and other international organisations. His experience in dealing with matters of State and his unstinting commitment to public service and communal amity would go a long way in building both the nation and the State. He said the Mumbai blasts should be condemned and the guilty must realise that they would not succeed.

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