Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has defended his stand over his Twitter fight with Anupam Kher saying though India was a plural society, the cultural iconography of the country was largely Hindu.
According to the report, a Twitter spat had ensued between Tharoor and Kher on 30 January. During a media interview the actor and now politician said that he was scared to openly say he was Hindu.
This spat saw several media houses writing about it and both their tweets against each other got several comments and retweets on the microblogging site.
However, Tharoor defended his argument against Kher’s absurd in his media column. He pointed out that it was perhaps the minorities in the country who had to struggle much harder to be accepted, something that the majority Hindus take for granted.
“Try renting an apartment, for instance, while using a Muslim name: there are many parts of many towns where you will be turned away with one specious excuse or another. And yet Muslims are expected to grin and bear it, and move on. ”
“So when I said, truthfully, that I openly, and without self-consciousness, say I am Hindu, I am acknowledging that it’s far easier for me to do so than it is for an Indian Muslim or Christian to wear his faith on his sleeve without being typecast for doing so. And when I added that I am not the Sangh’s kind of Hindu, I meant that I am not belligerent about my Hinduism,” Tharoor wrote.
When Tharoor had tweeted against it, Kher had called him a ‘Congi Chamcha’.
Come on Shashi. Never thought you will misinterpret my statement like trolls do. And behave like a Congi Chamcha. https://t.co/SOD44ZPYvM
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) January 30, 2016
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This did not go down well with the actor who retaliated with calling Tharoor a ‘Congi Chamcha’ — a term largely used on social media by trolls.
| I’m scared today to say openly that I’m a Hindu: @AnupamPkher to CNN-IBN’s @bhupendrachaube in #TheHotSeat pic.twitter.com/U7JEme8zoH
— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 29, 2016
Come on Anupam. I say it all the time. I’m a proud Hindu. Just not the Sangh’s kind of Hindu. @AnupamPkher https://t.co/jLgKlYwL96
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) January 30, 2016
Tharoor had called out Kher for his abusive language and said he was a proud Congress member:
. Abuse, @AnupamPkher , is what you use when you run out of arguments. I’m a proud MP of @INCIndia &I don’t resort to insults. #CongiChamcha
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) January 30, 2016
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