New Delhi: “Excellent, nonconformist IPS officer”, a rigid interlocutor, an “interferer” to Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and a “BJP state chief” in Raj Bhawan — R.N. Ravi has earned many monikers, some accolades for his long career in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and a heap criticism for his two-year stint as the Governor in Nagaland, between 2019 and 2021 and now, as Tamil Nadu Governor.
From being known as the interlocutor who tried “dividing” Naga insurgent groups in Nagaland, to becoming a Governor with a political axe to grind, Ravi is today the most talked-about occupant of a Raj Bhawan.
Now the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Ravi triggered a controversy this month, when he suggested that the state should be called ‘Tamzihagam’. While Tamil Nadu originally means Tamil ‘land’, now also read as ‘Tamil country’, ‘Tamizhagam’, means the ‘abode’ or ‘land’ of the Tamil people and was the name of the ancient Tamil country.
He also left out portions of the speech approved by the M.K. Stalin-led government for his assembly address and walked out before proceedings were over. He followed it up with another provocation, sending Pongal invitations without the state emblem and calling himself the governor of Tamizhagam. Calls for the Governor’s recall have been gaining strength.
Post retirement from IB in 2012, Ravi in an opinion piece published in The Hindu, had criticised the UPA II government for its efforts in bringing Naga insurgent group NSCN (IM) to the discussion table to initiate the peace process. In the article titled ‘Chasing a chimeric peace’ Ravi had also targeted then Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, branding their efforts as nothing but “drama”.
“The recent demonstrations of competitive eagerness by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and Nagaland’s legislators to support the “peace” purportedly being cooked between Delhi and the NSCN (IM) were nothing but drama,” Ravi had written. He had accused the Rio government of backing NSCN (IM), which provoked fierce backlash by other Naga “militias” resulting in “bloody clashes”.
“Mr. Rio came to power and his government became a proxy for the Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim (GPRN), of which Mr. Muivah (Naga separatist leader Thuingaleng Muivah) is the self-styled ‘prime minister’. Many times it became difficult to determine who ruled the State — Mr. Rio or Mr. Muivah.” Ravi concluded by stating that it was “impossible” to get “peace” from the dialogue between NSCN (IM) and the Union government.
“It is impossible to expect a sustainable peace from the ongoing process between Delhi and the NSCN (IM). An endeavour for peace that excludes crucial stakeholders is a travesty,” this is the last line Ravi wrote in a piece in The Hindu in November 2012.
Two years later, in 2014, he was made an interlocutor in Nagaland by the Modi government and in 2015 , Ravi brought Thuingaleng Muivah of NSCN to the discussion table. He is widely seen as the architect of the Framework Agreement (FA) between the Union Government and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) to finalise the Naga Peace Accord in 2015. The signing of the framework agreement was a much-hyped event with even Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending it.
In 2018, Rio was re-elected Chief Minister, but Ravi continued as interlocutor and a year later, the Modi government appointed him Governor of the state. Frequent confrontations between Rio and Ravi ensued. In 2020, R. N. Ravi wrote a letter to CM Rio, alleging the ‘law and order’ had collapsed in the state, which caused a clash between both the high offices, said a senior leader of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) — Rio’s party — who does not want to be quoted.
In 2021, purportedly upset with Ravi’s face-offs with an elected government and his failure to make any progress in the peace deal, Ravi was shunted out to the Chennai Raj Bhawan. His brushes with the elected government of Tamil Nadu have only intensified in frequency and scale.
A 1976 batch IPS officer of Kerala cadre, who enjoyed the patronage of national security adviser Ajit Doval, Ravi was known as a task master, and an officer who is “aggressive” in approach. However, officers and politicians who worked with him directly are divided over his temperament. NDPP leaders close to Rio said Ravi remained a bureaucrat and was unable to manage the “sensitive issues related to people and politics”.
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Conflicts continue
Fifteen months after being made Governor of Tamil Nadu, Ravi continues to make headlines, picking one fight a day with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led government in the state.
ThePrint spoke to Ravi’s peers, his colleagues and seniors in the IPS circle, many of whom called the Tamil Nadu Governor a “pragmatic” officer with an aggressive outlook.
- K. Hormis Tharakan, who retired as the RAW chief and a senior to Ravi in Kerala cadre, remembered him as a fine officer who managed to bring down the rate of political violence in Kerala’s most turbulent district Kannur.
“The Ravi I Knew was a brilliant officer with no political inclination or bias. He was mentored and groomed by our finest, M.K. Joseph (former DGP of Kerala ). Ravi was additional SP of Kannur and how he actively brought the violence down there was a matter of discussion. Then he rose in ranks and was promoted as the SP there,” he said.
He also pointed out that Ravi was the one who made a headway in the Naga talks.
“He is known as the North East specialist in the IPS circle. He was doing so well. However, being an interlocutor and a Governor at the same time, may really make things complicated. Talking to the insurgent groups as an interlocutor and executing them as Governor are two different things and it is complex,” said Tharakan.
‘Too much power’
While his colleagues lauded him as a police officer, many expressed their reservation about his role as the Governor of Nagaland.
“Too much power corrupts. Two years after retirement, he became very close to the Modi government. He was made the chairperson of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), the nodal agency that advises the Prime Minister on national and international security issues, and then the interlocutor for the Naga peace talk in 2014. Four years later in 2018, he was made deputy national security advisor (NSA) and a year later in 2019, he was appointed Governor of Nagaland,” said a retired IPS officer who worked with Ravi.
The retired officer added: “One can see the trajectory, it is too much power vested with a person. The idea of appointing the interlocutor as the Governor looked flawed.
A senior minister in Nagaland cabinet who did not want to be named, said the appointment created a clash of interests.
“The state government in Nagaland is a coalition of NDA and local NDPP. BJP always wanted an upper hand and Ravi was acting like a spoiler. He understands the Naga tribes, the factions, internal conflicts and weaknesses of the NDPP. He started meddling with the Chief Minister routinely and in the process, he created a mess. Antagonising Muivah was a bad idea,” the minister added.
NDPP politicians told ThePrint that the former Governor interfered in the regular process of administration and governance, and finally “embarrassed” the Centre through his antics.
“There were many differences between the Raj Bhavan and the Chief Minister during his tenure. He started interfering into the government functioning and opposing many government decisions publicly. He also alleged that the government joined hands with the NSCN (IM),” claimed Alemtemshi Jamir, NDPP working president.
Failed to implement Naga peace accord
Ravi, who is originally from Patna, Bihar, worked in Kerala for the initial years of his service as he joined as a Kerala cadre officer. He joined the IB as a young officer, worked across regions including J&K, north-eastern states and Naxal-affected regions. He also served as joint director of IB and posted in Guwahati for a long time..
After retirement in 2012, for two years, Ravi did not hold any position in the government, but his contribution to curbing insurgency in the northeast and his contribution to the intelligence unit were well known.
In 2014, after PM Modi assumed office, Ravi was appointed interlocutor for the Naga peace process and Ajit Lal, his senior in IB and then interlocutor, was removed. In 2018, he had also been made the deputy NSA, and in 2019 he was appointed Governor of Nagaland. However, he continued as interlocutor. Ravi served as the Naga peace talk interlocutor for seven years before resigning in September 2021.
“He is the first person who managed to bring all stakeholders to the table and initiated the peace talk in 2015, but in the next seven years, the peace accord could not be implemented. And it is a mess now. We as seniors have always known him as an efficient officer,” said Vappala Balachandran, former special secretary, cabinet secretariat, and a national security expert
His fallout with Thuingaleng Muivah of NSCN over the disagreements related to the clauses of the peace accord, brought him into NSCN’s crosshairs. The peace accord could not be formalised and implemented.
Amitabh Mathur, a 1977 batch IPS officer, who retired as deputy director of RAW said, “R N Ravi has always been discussed as an able and efficient officer, who initiated the peace process, and brought so many underground Naga outfits to the discussion table. But after seven to eight years of discussion, the treaty is yet to be implemented.”
While his tenure in Tamil Nadu promises to be as controversial, the RSS-BJP unit in the state has supported his views.
“We do not see anything wrong in the Governor ‘s statement (on the state’s name). He did not say that it should be implemented right now, he only gave his opinion or one may call it his suggestion, of calling the state as Tamizhagam,” said Tamil Nadu BJP state unit president, professor P. Kanagasabapathi.
Kanagasabapathi added: “Even though BJP or RSS never talked about it officially, this has been an ancient usage. Tamil Nation or Tamil Nadu is misused by the separatist elements and encouraged by the DMK. This controversy has been fueled by the DMK for their vested political interest.”
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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