Incorrigible, irrepressible & unforgivable

Should Indian democracy tolerate someone like Tathagata Roy?

For decades, governors have been thought of as one of the weak points of Indian democracy. Concern has been repeatedly expressed about the sort of people chosen, their conduct in office and, even, the things they say or, these days, tweet. Yet it had never occurred to me we could have one who is so hatefully prejudiced, you could justifiably call him communal. That was until Tathagata Roy appeared on the scene.

Appointed governor of Tripura in May 2015 and governor of Meghalaya in August this year, Mr Roy has not lost an opportunity to target and taunt Muslims, if not demonise them, whilst boasting about India’s Hindu majority. He’s utterly unconcerned about how his tweets have diminished the authority of his office as well as his personal credibility. He may be sui generis but, frankly, should Indian democracy tolerate someone like him? 

A week ago on 26/11, as governor of Meghalaya, Mr Roy tweeted: “10th anniversary today of Paki-sponsored slaughter of innocents (except Muslims) at Mumbai, popularly called 26/11”, either completely ignoring the fact 44 of the 166 people killed, that is, 26.5 per cent were Muslim, or refusing to accept they were innocent. When a strong and immediate backlash forced him to retract and apologise he did so peremptorily adding “no further inquiries please”.

The truth is Tathagata Roy should never have been appointed a governor in the first place. As an ordinary citizen living in Kolkata, his tweets were indefensible. Nine months before he became a governor, in August 2014, he tweeted: “Congrats UP BJP for bringing issue of Love Jihad to the fore. We in West Bengal must perhaps do the same to save hapless gullible Hindu girls.” Four months later, in December, he tweeted: “Overwhelming Hindu majority is ESSENTIAL to maintain a multi-religious society & secular state. But West Bengal is slipping.” And just a month before his appointment, throwing all caution to the winds, he tweeted: “Hindus of West Bengal: either chuck your ‘secular’, ‘politically correct’ values and polarise. Or prepare to be either annihilated or converted.”

Regrettably, Mr Modi ignored this background and appointed Mr Roy a governor. But it did not change Mr Roy one bit. Three months later, in July 2015, he tweeted: “Intelligence shd keep a tab on all (except relatives & close friends) who assembled bfr Yakub Memon’s corpse. Many are potential terrorists.” A month after that, in response to critics, he thus defended himself: “Whatever gave you the notion I am secular? I am a Hindu…” Now his Twitter handle identified him not just as a governor but also “a proud Swayam Sevak”.

Since then Mr Roy’s tweets have plumbed new depths. Last year, in June, he tweeted: “Syama Prasad Mookerjee wrote in his diary on 10/1/1946: ‘The Hindu-Muslim problem won’t b solved without a Civil War.’ So much like Lincoln!” When criticised he took shelter behind the fact he was only quoting S P Mookerjee and not advocating civil war.

In October 2017, when concern about pollution caused by Diwali firecrackers was topical, he tweeted: “Every Diwali fights start over noise pollution from crackers. A few days in a year. But no fight about Azaan over loudspeakers at 4.30 am.” Then, as if that wasn’t enough, he added in Hindi that at this rate people would start expressing concern about Hindu cremations.

Around the same time, he referred to the Rohingyas as “garbage”, adding that since “Islamists and stooges” were trolling him, this proved he was “on right track”. He’s clearly out to provoke Muslims and is gleeful when he succeeds. 

I have no doubt Tathagata Roy is incorrigible, irrepressible and unforgivable. Yet the Prime Minister doesn’t seem to mind. He hasn’t once objected to Mr Roy’s tweets. If he has spoken to him in private he’s kept it very silent and it’s had precious little effect. Now things have reached a stage where Mr Roy’s behaviour is raising questions about Mr Modi’s commitment to propriety and, even, constitutional morality. But perhaps Mr Modi doesn’t care either.

I’ve, therefore, come to a simple conclusion: Our values are being shredded by those who are sworn to protect them. When we have such rulers what need do we have of enemies?