While some of us may feel a sense of pride on reciting the following words of our Preamble, ‘Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic’, Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy is on a different page. During an exchange on Twitter, he wrote, ‘Whatever gave you the notion I am secular? I am a Hindu. My state, India, however is secular since 1976.’ This is not the first time Roy has tweeted something controversial. When Yakub Memon was hanged, he wrote about how intelligence agencies should keep a tab on people who assembled for Memon’s last rites as many of them could be ‘potential terrorists’. In an interview to a newspaper, Roy said that such people are “definitely prima facie suspects”. While that predictably led to online brouhaha, Roy clarified that he hadn’t mentioned any particular community.
His Twitter bio describes him as (among other things) a governor, essentially a political person with politics on backburner, but still a proud Swayamsevak. In practice, governors are known to be political appointees who often lean towards their parties when it comes to taking decisions, but Roy is somewhat disturbingly unique in doing away with any of the political correctness of his constitutional office.
More Columns
Forever Yours Kaveree Bamzai
Battlefields of the Mind Kaveree Bamzai
Punjabi by Nature Rachel Dwyer