Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy said Bengalis "only make noise for political reasons"

Highlights Tathagata Roy said Bengalis "only make noise for political reasons"

He was offering his views on some states resisting Hindi learning

He argued the opposition of Bengalis to learning Hindi lacked substance

Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy has delivered another shocker, commenting that Bengal's greatness is gone and Bengalis are "sweeping the floors" or "are bar dancers in Mumbai". He was offering his views on some states resisting Hindi learning.

Tathagata Roy, a former BJP leader who is from Bengal, argued in a series of tweets that the opposition of Bengalis to learning Hindi lacked substance and was mainly political.

"There is no great opposition. They only make noise for political reasons. Assam, Maharashtra, Odisha are also non-Hindi speaking states but they don't oppose Hindi. The 2nd argument is Bengal is the land of Vidyasagar, Vivekananda, Rabindranath and Netaji so why should Bengalis learn Hindi," the Governor tweeted.

"What is the link between these great men and opposition to learning Hindi? Secondly, good lord, who will explain to them that the era of these stalwarts is long gone, and the greatness of Bengal is gone too. Now from Haryana to Kerala, Bengali boys are sweeping the floors in homes and Bengali girls are bar dancers in Mumbai which was unthinkable before," he wrote.

While many among Mr Roy's Twitter followers have backed his comments, others have attacked him for his generalised statement on Bengalis and remarked that youth from many other states were in the same boat, not because they don't know Hindi but because of the lack of education and work opportunities.

Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has condemned the tweets by Mr Roy. "I protest the governor's derogatory tweets. These are unfortunate comments from a constitutional post holder," she said. Her party has also launched a protest against the tweets, which are in Bengali. MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar is leading the dharna at Hazra More where she has also launched the Bongo Janani Vahini. The women's force was proposed along with Jai Hind Vahini by Mamata Banerjee to counter the RSS.

For those smarting from the governor's comments, Mr Roy has suggested, "Apply Burnol" which is streetside slang to mock dissenters.

The tweets refer to the row over a new draft education policy that had suggested a three-language plan in which Hindi would be taught in schools in non-Hindi speaking states too. The clause was changed and "Hindi" was dropped as states like Tamil Nadu accused the central government of imposing the language on them.

Outrageous comments from Tathagata Roy are hardly a surprise. What is intriguing to many, however, is that he has so far escaped any serious action.