Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor on Thursday sought to put a lid over the controversy about his marriage being on the rocks following allegations by his wife of a cross-border affair with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar.
He posted a "joint statement" along with his wife Sunanda P. Tharoor stating that they were "happily married and intend to remain that way" on his Facebook page and Twitter, the very microblogging platform on which the controversy first started. After the couple posted their statement, Ms. Tarar – who had earlier threatened to sue Ms. Tharoor for her accusations -- also rang the curtains down on this controversy by wishing them a long and happy marriage.
The joint statement came 24 hours after the Minister’s claim that his Twitter account had been hacked and his wife first accused the Pakistani journalist of stalking her husband and then said an affair was on. Mr. Tharoor claimed his account had been hacked after some messages – allegedly sent to him by the Pakistani journalist – were posted on Twitter.
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His wife later clarified that their accounts had not been hacked and it was she who had posted the messages sent by the Pakistani journalist to Mr. Tharoor. She even told some newspapers that it was she who had been sending those tweets; accusing the Pakistani journalist of being an Inter Services Intelligence agent.
Ms. Tharoor even claimed that her husband was flattered by the attention he was getting from the Pakistani journalist. Further accusing her husband of "crimes" during the Indian Premier League and stating that she would not cover up for him any further, Ms. Tharoor was quoted by a section of the media as stating that she would seek divorce.
With the rumours thickening as they spread, Ms. Tharoor first told a television channel this morning over phone that the couple were happy together and she had no intention of breaking up with the Minister whom she married in the autumn of 2010.
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Later, the Tharoors posted the statement in which they also said: "We are distressed by the unseemly controversy that has arisen about some unauthorised tweets from our Twitter accounts. Various distorted accounts of comments allegedly made by Sunanda have appeared in the press. It appears that some personal and private comments responding to these unauthorised tweets – comments that were not intended for publication – have been misrepresented and led to some erroneous conclusions."
Further, the couple revealed that Ms. Tharoor has been ill and hospitalised this week and "is seeking rest"; urging the media to respect their privacy. Both tweeted their statement; adding that they had nothing more to say on the subject.