We stand vindicated, says Congress

NEW DELHI: The Congress seems to be elated at the pulling up of the Meghalaya Governor, Tathagata Roy, by the Centre over his controversial remarks on the highly emotive Kashmir issue.
Talking to The Shillong Times, MLA and party spokesperson HM Shangpliang said that his party’s stand on statements of the Governor has been vindicated even by the Centre.
“We boycotted his speech in the Assembly en masse,” he said.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has advised Roy to abstain from making political and other statements which are unbecoming of his gubernatorial post particularly on Kashmir. The Governor has been denounced for a series of controversial tweets by many quarters.
Roy’s tweet against Kashmiris following the terror attack in Pulwama in February did not go down well with the Centre. In fact, during a telephonic conversation with Roy, Singh had expressed concerns over his February 19 tweet endorsing the boycott of “everything Kashmiri”.
The advice to Roy comes in the wake of nationwide protests, particularly in Jammu & Kashmir and in Meghalaya.
The five-phase election in the trouble-torn state will begin on April 11 amid tight security.
After the Pulwama attack, Roy had tweeted, “I am inclined to agree to a tweet which read: ‘An appeal from a retired colonel of the Indian Army: Don’t visit Kashmir, don’t go to Amaranth for the next two years. Don’t buy articles from the Kashmir emporia or Kashmir tradesman who come every winter. Boycott everything Kashmiri’.”