In a new low for both, the Congress and his party, ex-bureaucrat and current party spokesperson for Congress, Mr. Shashi Tharoor shockingly abused PM Modi at a public forum in an attempt to build momentum for the upcoming general elections in 2019.
As a delegate at the Bengaluru literature festival, Shashi Tharoor was adding his bit as usual on the usual issue of secularism in India, and how the likes of RSS were a living threat to these ideals. As he continued with his rants, he added something that not only shocked the gathering present but also took a wrong turn for his own stance.
To quote this portion of his speech, “There’s an extraordinarily striking metaphor expressed by an unnamed RSS source to a journalist. The RSS source said Modi is like a scorpion sitting on a Shiv Linga. You cannot remove him with your hand and you cannot hit it with a chappal (slipper) either.”
Needless to say, BJP went hammer and tongs after Shashi Tharoor, demanding an unconditional apology from him. To quote Union Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, “The Congress has become a party of abuse and slander. Tharoor is accused in a murder case. I don’t want to comment on him and give him any relevance.”
However, it didn’t look Shashi Tharoor was even remotely apologetic about his comments. He instead accused BJP of blowing the statement out of proportions in his own style, as reflected in the following tweet:-
This comment (not by me) has been in the public domain for six years. RSPrasad making an issue of a 6yr old quote shows how little new the BJP has to offer the nation. As for media subserving the BJP’s desire for “controversy”, when will this “profession”develop any self-respect? https://t.co/RF8xxQLjzq
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 28, 2018
We are not entirely surprised by Mr. Tharoor’s statement, but such an insulting reference wasn’t expected from him either. It seems that what Praniti Shinde had said about PM Modi was just the tip of the iceberg, for Congress has a deep contempt for anybody, who doesn’t tow the line of their notorious patrons, the Nehru Gandhi dynasty.
No matter how qualified one is or how learned one might be, if the person is not pro-Congress, he / she doesn’t have even the basic right to decency in the eyes of this Grand Old Party, as evident in the extremely contemptuous statement of Mr. Shashi Tharoor.
Also, the reference to Shivaling is not only horrible; it also reflects the inherent ‘Hindu phobia’ in the mindset of the Congress party. We’re no strangers to how they tried to mock the Hindu sentiments during the entire tenure of UPA government, from attempting to demolish the Ram Setu, to creating the hoax of Hindu terror in order to appease the minority.
However, this insult to the Shiva linga is not acceptable even by Congress’ own standards. Have they considered the holy Shiva linga some football that can be ruthlessly kicked and tossed about? It’s no rocket science to figure how we deeply revere the Shiva linga as mark of respect towards the eternal warrior that is Shri Shiva.
Even if he didn’t mean it that way, such comments were literally in real bad taste to be precise. Interestingly, isn’t Rahul Gandhi a self proclaimed Shiva bhakt? By insulting the deity, isn’t Shashi Tharoor inadvertently invoking the ire of his own master?
However, no matter how atrocious this seems, or how insulting the statement might be, this isn’t the first time Shashi Tharoor is accused of such atrocious statements, nor this is the first time a Congress politician has resorted to such an abusive language against PM Modi.
If we keep the legendary references of Imran Masud aside, there hasn’t been a single abuse that hasn’t been used against PM Modi. Be it the ‘Maut ka Saudagar’ reference by Sonia Gandhi, or the volley of abuses used by Congress stooge Jignesh Mevani in a recent rally, including ‘Namak Haraam’, an abusive slang in Hindi for ‘traitor’, you name it and Congress has said it.
We also remember how one over enthusiastic party member mocked PM Modi’s humble origins, saying that he could never become PM on those credentials. We all know what happened next.
Long ago, when charismatic PM Lal Bahadur Shastri was asked about the response of the Tashkent pact back home, he smiled at the opposition to it, saying ‘it is their right to be critical’. However, if he had seen how his own successors from Congress party behaved with fellow politicians, including India’s PM, I’m sure even he would’ve thought twice about his own statement.