Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is once again in news for all the wrong reasons. He is again in trouble because of his controversial remarks. On Sunday, while addressing a seminar in Thiruvananthapuram with the theme ‘Standing up to hatred: Violence and intolerance in contemporary India’ he tried to take a jibe at PM Modi but ended up insulting millions of people in the process. He thereby managed to invite more troubles for his already troubled Congress party.
Shashi Tharoor said, “Why does our Prime Minister, who wears all sorts of outlandish headgear wherever he goes around the country, refuse to wear a Muslim skullcap? You’ve seen him in hilarious Naga headdress, feathers, and various kinds of extraordinary outfits. Why does he refuse to wear the green?”
All Indians, especially the people of the Northeast, should be outraged at this despicable show of racism by @ShashiTharoor. It’s his snobbery that gives him the audacity to mock the cultures of people of NE! pic.twitter.com/EUjhCXPNAt
— Rajat Sethi (@RajatSethi86) August 6, 2018
It is not surprising that Mr.Tharoor who has a colonial mindset finds culturally important ethnic headgears ‘outlandish’. Not just Tharoor but all the people whose mentality reeks of colonial hangover possess the same views about the ethnic tradition and the culture of Indian citizens.
Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh Kiren Rijiju demanded an apology from Shashi Tharoor for his insulting remarks.
I demand apology from the Congress Party for insulting the people of India's North East & Tribals. Shashi Tharoor described North-East people & Naga Tribal headgears as funny looking outlandish & hilarious.
— Kiren Rijiju (मोदी का परिवार) (@KirenRijiju) August 6, 2018
Wearing ethnic headgears in different states is a beautiful gesture of showing respect towards a culture and tradition. But these things are beyond understanding for a pseudo-secular person like Shashi Tharoor who is completely into minority appeasement politics.
Moreover, Shashi Tharoor’s comparison of ethnic headgear to a skullcap is absurd at all the level. It shows his lack of understanding and knowledge. The skullcap is not ethnic, in fact it is specific to a particular religion. Headgears are culture and tradition specific. There is a difference between culture and religion. He should understand the difference between religious and cultural headgears before saying anything on the subject. People like Shashi Tharoor must understand that Nagas are also citizens of India and they also deserve equal respect like all. Just because Nagas are not a vote bank of the Congress party it doesn’t mean that they will disrespect them. Tharoor’s remarks reflects his and his party’s narrow mentality. His comments against the tribal communities of North-East India are highly insensitive and disrespecting and he should apologize to them.
Northeast is an INTEGRAL part of India, and its headgears, each one of them, however "Outlandish" it may look to anyone, are also an INTEGRAL part of India’s cultural diversity! https://t.co/lQkBz6sxrf
— Temsutula Imsong (Modi ji Ka Parivar) (@temsutulaimsong) August 6, 2018
Shashi Tharoor is a publicity-hungry person, by staying in the media limelight he wants to keep himself relevant in the eyes of the Indian citizens. Earlier also he had received huge flak for his Hindu-Pakistan remark but still, it seems he didn’t learn any lessons and now he has come up with even more stupid and absurd remarks against the North-East people of India.
