Constitution Has Had 101 Amendments, Can Be Changed Further: Tripura Governor

Tathagata Roy, Tripura Governor and former Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) member in an email interview with Hans has said that the Constitution can be changed if the need arises.

“So far there have been 101 amendments to the Constitution, some of them under very questionable circumstances, as in the case of the 42nd amendment, when most opposition leaders were in jail (Emergency),” he wrote.

Taking a swipe at the left-liberal establishment, he said, “So after scoring a century, what are those 'intellectuals', Left-Nehruvian establishment to me, afraid of.”

Roy has been serving as the Governor of Tripura since 2015 and has no qualms about his RSS-BJP background. He said that the Constitution was created by us in 1950 and can be altered if the need is felt.

“... what man has made, man can certainly change. France has had five republics since 1792. We the people of India can change what we gave ourselves in 1950 if we think it ought to be done,” Roy said.

Commenting on India’s inclusive values he upheld the Supreme Court’s definition of the Hinduism as a ‘way of life’ but warned against ideologies that seek to take advantage of the ‘open-mindedness’.

“But if someone says that there is no God but Allah, and if you don’t say so I'll make you do it by force, then surely Hindutva will have an issue with that person. It is said that too much of anything is bad. This is expressed differently by saying that we must all be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains fall out,” he says.

Roy has authored a 450-page biography of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, founder of the Jana Sangh, predecessor of the today’s BJP.