It seems that the former Vice President Hamid Ansari has condoned the remarks made by Shashi Tharoor regarding India becoming a Hindu Pakistan if the BJP comes back in power in 2019. According to the One India report, Hamid Ansari, in an exclusive interview to ANI, said, “He [Tharoor] is a learned man whatever he says will be well thought of. He has a right to make his own judgment. I haven’t read what he has said.”
Congress leader and Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday while addressing a gathering in Kerala said that if the BJP comes back in 2019 then India will become Hindu Pakistan. The term Hindu Pakistan is oxymoron but it still didn’t stop Mr. Tharoor from saying it and branding the majority community as rabid fundamentalists. Shashi Tharoor said, “So far, what have been preventing them are three things – two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha, two-thirds in the Rajya Sabha and half of the states. As you know, they have two-thirds in Lok Sabha and they have more than half the states. They have 20 states and coalitions in two others. The only thing they don’t have is a majority in the Rajya Sabha but because they have so many state governments and because state assemblies elect the Rajya Sabha, you can be sure in 4-5 years, they will have a majority in Rajya Sabha as well.” He further added, “So the great danger then is that if they are able to win a repeat of their current strength in the Lok Sabha, then frankly our democratic constitution as we understand will not survive because they will have all the three elements they need to tear up the Constitution of India and write a new one. That will be a new one which will enshrine the principle of Hindu Rashtra, will remove equality for minorities that will create a Hindu Pakistan. That’s not what Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and the great heroes of our freedom struggle fought for.”
The Congress party is notorious for minority appeasement but Hamid Ansari is also no less than the Congress party when it comes to appeasing a particular section of the country. It looks like post-retirement plan of Hamid Ansari Ji is to emerge as a strong Muslim leader. When in the office, Hamid Ji was in fact notorious for flashing victim card at an alarming regularity, and acting like a representative of Muslims. On the last day of his office, Hamid Ansari had made a statement that there is a state of unease and insecurity among the Muslims of India. Sometime in 2015, Hamid Ansari came out batting in support for affirmative action for Muslims. He was speaking at the golden jubilee function of All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat in New Delhi. Instead of using his position to influence the community to shun medieval notions and embrace change, he supported reservations for Muslims. Then in 2016, Hamid Ansari again donned the hat of protector of Muslim coreligionists from majority community. He asked the courts to “clarify the contours within which the principles of secularism and composite culture should operate with a view to strengthen their functional modality and remove ambiguities”. Basically translated as, how minorities should be protected from the onslaught of majoritarianism. Massive money plundering in RSTV happened under Ex-VP Hamid Ansari.
Just few days ago, Hamid Ansari was complaining about PM Modi’s speech on his last day in Rajya Sabha. Hamid Ansari said, “Many considered the comments to be a departure from accepted practice on such occasions.” He further added, “The Prime Minister while being fulsome in his complements also hinted at what he perceived to be a certain inclination in my approach on account of my having spent, as he put it, both a good part of my professional tenure as a diplomat in Muslim lands and in post-retirement period on minority-related questions.” The basic inference of PM Modi’s farewell speech was that VP Hamid Ansari was never a Vice President but a spokesperson of Muslims, dangerously tilting towards even the fundamentalists, a fact that was apparent when he attended a program organized by radical Islamist group, PFI. Some jibes are better ignored, some require mild rebuttals but rants like Ansari’s deserve the language in which PM Modi spoke on that day.
With the apparent support extended to Shashi Tharoor’s absurd statement on Hindu Pakistan, the former VP has proved that his attitude has not changed even after demitting the office. On the contrary, he has become more vocal in this regard.