BJP-Tharoor tug-of-war over Hindu identity continues

Thiruvananthapuram: If Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is threatening to win the Hindu argument, the BJP is in no mood to let him.

Tharoor's 'Why I am a Hindu', which sought to rationalise the Hindu religion, has been wowing the country for some time, and now he has come up with a sucker punch of a charge that has the BJP squirming in anger. During a seminar on July 11, Tharoor had said the BJP would tear up the Constitution and create a new Hindu Pakistan if it comes to power again.

The counter-attack has begun, and it is being done incrementally. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra was the first to react, his words not an outburst but a smoulder. He said Tharoor's statement was an attack against Indian democracy. Patra wanted Congress president Rahul Gandhi to atone for Tharoor's words. Not only did Rahul Gandhi not respond, a defiant Tharoor repeated his charges.

On Friday, at the Manorama News Conclave 2018, union minister Alphons Kannanthanam raised the pitch higher. He called Shashi Tharoor's statements “anti-national” and the “most atrocious statement in the history of India”.

“Shashi Tharoor is not in jail today. After having made the most atrocious statement in the history of India Tharoor is still sitting here as a free man. This proves that India is free, the citizen is free,” the minister added. Tharoor looked amused.

At the July 11 event, Tharoor had said that the stalwarts of the Sangh Parivar – Savarkar, Golwalkar and Deendayal Upadhyay – wanted the Indian Constitution discarded. “They wanted it discarded because it is based on the wrong idea of nation. The Constitution assumed the nation of India as a territory. Wrong, they said. The nation is a people, they argued. And the people are Hindus. The rest are essentially guests or interlopers. Christians and Muslims they considered bandits and dacoits,” Tharoor had said.

As Kannanthanam was reacting on Tharoor's comments, the Congress MP interrupted him to ask: “Are you prepared to say that your party no longer believes in Hindu Rashtra?” Kannanthanam said the prime minister himself had stated in Parliament that the Constitution is supreme, and has told the nation that he would ensure that anyone could lead the life they want.

Tharoor pressed his point further, “Excellent, the prime minister is no longer pursuing the agenda of Hindu Rashtra. I want to hear it from a BJP minister.” “From where did you get this whole idea of a Hindu Rashtra?” Kannanthanam asked. “Is it because you had written a book about being a Hindu? It was very convenient. Just when the elections are coming, and a large number of Hindu votes are at stake, and suddenly Shashi pops up with a book,” he said and added: “You have become a very seasoned politician.” Tharoor kept smiling.