Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy justifies his statement against Yakub's mourners

By Madhuparna Das

KOLKATA: A day after Yakub Memon was hanged in a Nagpur jail, the chatter around him refused to die down with the governor of a north eastern state calling the people who had gathered to pay their last respects to Memon as “potential terrorists”. When contacted, Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy told ET that he would “stand by his comment”.

“People are putting words in my mouth. I have written that people who had gone to the terrorist’s funeral, barring his relatives and close friends, ought to be kept under watch. And my comment is perfectly justified. I have never mentioned a particular community.”

Roy, who had been a senior BJP leader, faced serious flak for his comment which triggered an angry outburst in social networking circles. Roy, however, was unfazed, and even said, “It is my constitutional duty to bring matters of public interest to public notice. My position as Governor is thereby not compromised.”

When reminded that his comments are being viewed from the perspective that he is a Governor, he said, “A Governor should speak for people’s interest. And what I said it was a mere suggestion. I cannot instruct them. I am standing by my comment.”