On 21st August, President Kovind appointed new governors to seven states which include Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim, Bihar, Uttrakhand, Haryana and J&K. The selection of Tathagata Roy as Meghalaya governor is a very significant development. Off late, there have been many significant developments in the state of Meghalaya, owing to which Tathagata Roy might just turn out to be a very important figure in the state.
Tathagata Roy is a former professor and founder-head of the Department of Construction Engineering at Jadavpur University in Kolkata. The 73-year-old politician was a Swayamsevak since 1985 and was member of the BJP national executive since 2002. From 2002 to 2006, he served as State BJP President for West Bengal. Roy will be the first Governor of Meghalaya with RSS affiliations.
There are 3 reasosn why I consider Tathagata Roy’s appointment rightly timed and very significant. Below I discuss some burning issues in which he will have an important role to play as the Governor of Meghalaya.
1.) Khasi Lineage Bill – The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) recently passed a preposterous bill called the ‘Khasi Lineage Bill’. According to this bill, if a Khasi woman marries a non-Khasi man, she will lose her ST status and all benefits which she previously enjoyed. For over a month now, Shillong is abuzz with discussions over this bill which seeks to interfere with a woman’s right to choice and fundamental rights. The KHADC, currently headed by HS Shylla blamed the women for bringing catastrophic misfortune to the Khasi community by indulging in benami businesses with non-tribal men by means of marriage. There is a sense of insecurity among many as the KHADC may amend the bill and try to strip women who have married non-tribal men previously, off their ST status. The bill was sent to the Hon’ble Governor of Meghalaya, Shri Ganga Prasad for his consent who returned it for amendments earlier this month. Many citizens have ferociously protested against this diktat by the KHADC and requested the Governor not to give his assent to the bill. With the current Governor being shifted to Sikkim and Tathagata Roy taking charge, it will be very interesting to see what fate this ridiculous bill holds.
2.) Communal Tensions: Shillong was in the news in June for the communal tensions between the Sikh and Khasi communities. As a result of the demands by pressure groups and student union’s of the state (which usually don’t really include students but are rather composed of unemployed dropouts), a High Level Committee was constituted by the government with the task to relocate legal citizens and evict illegal one’s. Following a petition by the Sikh community, The Meghalaya High Court stripped the high level committee off its powers to relocate citizens and reduced it to only an advisory committee. The Shiromani Akali Dal has made it abundantly clear to the BJP top leadership that relocation is by no means an acceptable solution, considering the Sikhs have been living over the respective land for over 200 years now. The BJP cannot afford to upset the SAD before the crucial 2019 polls. The government of Meghalaya faces immense pressure from powerful organizations which have all rejected the proposal of relocation. The Human Rights Commission and Minority commission officials, all advised the government against relocation. This clearly shows that the Central leadership has taken the SAD’s advice seriously. Now that the committee can only advise the government, the government will require the consent of the Governor to relocate and evict citizens. This is a particularly important aspect of Tathagata Roy’s appointment.
3.) The coalition: Lastly, the current government in Meghalaya is composed of a coalition of NPP, BJP, UDP, PDF, HSPDP and independents. Hence, it faces the challenge of keeping its partners intact in the presence of the Congress. At such a time when there is a non-Congress government in the state, the BJP would prefer a person with a spine as the Governor, and they clearly have selected one in the form of Tathagata Roy.
All in all, Tathagata Roy’s term as Governor of Meghalaya is one to look forward to. Many are already uncomfortable with his appointment to the State. How he handles the burning issues which he will face in the early months as Governor will surely be an interesting sight.