News Desk |
On Tuesday, an Indian court issued an arrest warrant for Shashi Tharoor, Congress leader, and Indian MP for Thiruvananthapuram, for his widely criticized observation that the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s attempts to alter the constitution will usher in the formation of a “Hindu Pakistan.”
This is not the first time Tharoor has come under fire for the statements he made last year, where he had stated that BJP’s second term as the ruling party will pave the way for the creation of a “Hindu Pakistan.”
Kolkata Magistrate Metropolitan Court issues arrest warrant against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in connection with a case filed by an advocate Sumeet Chowdhury over Tharoor's 'Hindu-Pakistan' comment. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/HiqiKCBZVa
— ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2019
Arrest Warrant Against Shashi Tharoor
India media reports stated that Shashi Tharoor’s comments have irked leaders of the ruling BJP, who are demanding an apology from the Congress leader. Reports emerging from India reveal that Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Dipanjan Sen issued a bailable warrant for the arrest of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.
Yuva Morcha workers of the BJP had staged massive protests against Tharoor’s comments, and during one of their demonstrations, they poured black oil on Tharoor’s office.
The petition was filed by Sumit Choudhary, a lawyer who claims that Tharoor’s comments are aimed at encouraging discord and disharmony. India media reported that the case against Tharoor has been registered under Section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which deals with insults to the constitution of India or the national flag.
Tharoor had made the statements while addressing the crowd in Thiruvananthapuram back in 2018. He had observed that BJP’s second win in the Lok Sabha elections will pave the way for a new India Constitution that will turn India into a “Hindu-Pakistan.” Sumit Chaudhry filed in his appeal that Tharoor’s statements from last year have “hurt religious sentiments.”
Tharoor’s comments at the 2018 gathering were quoted by the Asian News International (ANI), “If they (BJP) win a repeat in the Lok Sabha, our democratic constitution, as we understand it, will not survive as they will have all the elements they need to tear apart the constitution of India and write a new one.”
Read more: Hindutva rogue Raj: Modi Murdered Constitution & Democracy
Tharoor added, “That new one will be the one which will enshrine principles of Hindu Rashtra, that’ll remove equality for minorities, that’ll create a Hindu Pakistan and that isn’t what Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad and the great heroes of the freedom struggle fought for.”
Bizarrely Misconstrued
These comments sparked a big controversy and leaders from the ruling BJP launched a tirade of anti-nationalist accusations against Tharoor. Members of the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party vandalized Shashi Tharoor’s office in Thiruvananthapuram.
Yuva Morcha workers of the BJP had staged massive protests against Tharoor’s comments, and during one of their demonstrations, they poured black oil on Tharoor’s office. The protestors went onto hang banner stating “Hindu Pakistan Office”, and then, cut out the “Hindu”.
The Yuva Morcha protestors demanded Shashi Tharoor to leave India, while many BJP leaders, including the official spokesperson Sambit Patra, demanded Rahul Gandhi, the then President of the Indian Congress, to apologize on Tharoor’s behalf.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had also questioned the ruling BJP party regarding the arrests and unlawful detentions imposed on the political leaders of Kashmir.
The Congress leader issued a statement on Facebook to clarify his stance, stating that his comments have been “bizarrely misconstrued”.
https://www.facebook.com/ShashiTharoor/posts/10155962318898167
Tharoor wrote, “I have said this before and I will say it again. Pakistan was created as a state with a dominant religion that discriminates against its minorities and denies them equal rights. India never accepted the logic that had partitioned the country.”
The MP of Thiruvananthapuram continued, “But the BJP/RSS idea of a Hindu Rashtra is the mirror image of Pakistan — a state with a dominant majority religion that seeks to put its minorities in a subordinate place. That would be a Hindu Pakistan, and it is not what our freedom movement fought for, nor did the idea of India enshrine in our Constitution.”
Notable writer and politician, Shashi Tharoor, has repeatedly come under criticism for being vocal in criticizing the decisions taken by the BJP leadership. He has criticized the recent decision to strip away occupied Kashmir’s special constitutional status for being an “unconstitutional” move that will have grave consequences for India’s democratic health.
Read more: Muslim man dies after being tortured by Hindu mob, India
Addressing the floor of the Indian Parliament, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had also questioned the ruling BJP party regarding the arrests and unlawful detentions imposed on the political leaders of Kashmir.
Shashi Tharoor, Congress: Why we think it is indeed a black day? Because two former J&K CMs Omar Abdullah&Mehbooba Mufti are under arrest & the whereabouts of our own colleague Farooq Abdullah are still unclear. We still want to know where he is? pic.twitter.com/Wdouz2LKDP
— ANI (@ANI) August 6, 2019
Tharoor was joined by scores of Indian politicians, opposition leaders, academicians, analysts, journalists and legal experts in the criticism recorded against the “unconstitutional” move of the Modi administration to abolish the special status of the occupied Himalayan valley.
