Addressing an event on Thursday, Shashi Tharoor said that if BJP is re-elected in 2019 then India will turn into ‘Hindu Pakistan’. The comment came while addressing the people in Thiruvananthapuram. Tharoor also said that India will write a new constitution, making India less tolerant and inclusive and that the BJP will remove equality for minorities.
ALSO READ: Tharoor raps BJP, says Section 377 about freedom, not sex
“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,” he said.
“That new one will be the one which will enshrine principles of Hindu Rashtra, that will remove equality for minorities, that’ll create a Hindu Pakistan and that isn’t what Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad and great heroes of freedom struggle fought for.”
ALSO READ: Rahul Gandhi supports petition to revoke Jayant Sinha’s Harvard alumnus tag
To which BJP slammed the Congress government and said that they want an apology from the Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Slamming Rahul Gandhi and Congress, BJP spokesperson, Sambit Patra said: “Congress is defaming Hindu for politics and Congress was responsible for the creation of Pakistan because of its ambitions yet again it has gone ahead to demean India and defame Hindus of India.”
After a while, Shashi Tharoor gave his explanation over a tweet, which stated:
Since some have bizarrely misconstrued my statement on the BJP seeking to turn India into a #HinduPakistan, a short explanation of what the term means: https://t.co/8H5euZK5gy
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) July 12, 2018
He posted his explanation on his Facebook wall, “BJP/RSS idea of a Hindu Rashtra” and claims that it would be “the mirror image of Pakistan– a state with a dominant majority religion that seeks to put its minorities in a subordinate place”. He added, “That would be a Hindu Pakistan, and it is not what our freedom movement fought for, nor the idea of India enshrined in our Constitution”.
After which the BJP spokesperson, Sambit Patra in a presser slammed Congress by saying ” India is not going to take this easily. You have been constantly instilling the seeds of fear-mongering among the people of this country. This is a shameful act of denigrating India by saying ‘Hindu Pakistan’.
He also added “Congress leaders have a habit of praising Pakistan. It started with Mani Shankar Aiyar, then Ghulam Nabi Azad. Now it’s Shashi Tharoor. He can love whoever he wants but he should not insult the people of India at the behest of Pakistan.”
ALSO READ: New Zealand PM and her husband are breaking stereotypes; check out…
“I don’t see what exactly I need to apologise for BJP’s point of view. I’m repeating what is on record from BJP&RSS. If they are no longer interested in the idea of Hindu Rashtra they must admit. Until they do so, how can one apologise for reflecting their point accurately” said Shashi Tharoor after BJP demanded an apology from Congress President, Rahul Gandhi over his comment.
Meanwhile, Former Vice-President Hamid Ansari backed Rahul Gandhi’s statement saying “I haven’t read what he has said. He is a learned man whatever he says will be well considered. He has a right to make his own judgement.”