Pune: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who is a strong critic of the Modi-led government, on Sunday said the prime minister deserves respect when he visits foreign countries as India’s representative, but when he is in the country, people have the right to question him.
On the row over a common language for India, the Lok Sabha MP from Kerala said he was in favour of a three-language formula (promoting multilingual communicative abilities).
He was speaking at a session organised by the All India Professional Congress in Pune district of Maharashtra.
“The prime minister deserves respect in foreign countries as (there) he is a representative of our nation. But when he is in India, we have the right to ask him questions,” Tharoor said.
On the issue of one common language in the country, he said the BJP’s ideology of promoting Hindi, Hinduism and Hindustan is “dangerous” for our country.
“We need to carry on the three-language formula,” he said.
Amid a heated debate over his remark that Hindi should be a common language, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said he has never asked for imposition of Hindi over native languages in the country but advocated its use as the second language,
He criticised the ruling BJP over incidents of mob lynching, saying they are an “insult to Hinduism and Lord Ram”.
“There is no difference among people (of different communities) living in Kerala. Then why it is happening in Maharashtra,” he said.
Even Maratha warrior king Shivaji Maharaj had people from different communities under his rule. But he instructed everyone to respect each other, he said.
The BJP’s idea of Hinduism is a “political ideology” and does not have any connection with Hinduism, the Congress leader said.
Also read: Shashi Tharoor: I am a proud Hindu because my religion doesn’t claim to be the only true path
Either Sashi Tharoor does not know what Modi is up to and why he is more active in carrying out RSS agenda than his own promises. Sashi Tharoor would soon be a liability of his own party ie congress. What is that Narendra Modi speaking to the Indian who are working there in foreign countries and what he is telling them is what should decisively be the issue whether to support him or reject him outright. Did any Prime Minister in the past including Atal Bihari Vajpayee organised such meeting for his self publicity? Or is it necessary for India to allow the Prime Minister to spend hell of a lot of money when there is 45 years high unemployment, when three fourth of the population do not get clean water to drink and use for domestic purposes, when whole of India is rocked with the almost daily news of mob lynching and this mob lynching is done by the BJP supporters, RSS mongers, when schools and colleges have less and lesser teachers, school infrastructure is in shambles, Govt. hospitals are nothing but a show piece where Sashi ThaROOR like person would not like to send their children for treatment and here we have a Prime Minister who is for his self publicity and condemnation of all that previous Govt.’s have done spends all the money. Sashi Tharoor keep your mouth shut and do the job of a proper opposition.
Yes we should give respect to PM Modi when he visits other countries and represents India. But how can we keep quite when he uses the opportunity to attack his predecessors from Congress and particular Nehru Gandhi. What Tharoor has to say about such behaviour.