Congress MP Shashi Tharoor slammed the BJP for the surge in mob-lynching deaths since the party’s ascendancy following the 2014 elections and said its idea of Hinduism was a “narrow political ideology” with no connection to its beliefs.
Addressing a session organised by the All India Professional Congress (AIPC) in the city, Mr. Tharoor, criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his push to impose Hindi as a common language over regional ones, saying Mr. Shah’s pitch for “one nation one language” was inimical for unity.
Detailing the number of mob-lynching deaths since 2014, Mr. Tharoor said: “What have we seen in the past six years? It started with the killing of [IT professional] Mohsin Shaikh in Pune. Then Mohammad Akhlaq [in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh] was killed on suspicion of slaughtering his cow and consuming beef.”
Recounting the grisly killings of Tabrez Ansari and Junaid Khan, the MP said: “Is this our Bharat? Is this what Hindu Dharma says? I am a Hindu but not of this kind… Further, victims are being forced to chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’. It is an insult to the Hindu Dharma . It is an insult to Lord Rama that people are being killed using his name.”
Remarking that it was appalling that one election result (BJP’s 2014 Lok Sabha win) gave so much power to such elements to do anything and kill anyone, he observed that Pehlu Khan (who was killed by cow vigilantes in Alwar in Rajasthan) was lynched despite having a licence to carry cows for dairy farming.
Asked about Mr. Shah’s pitch to impose Hindi as a common language, Mr. Tharoor said the three-language formula that had worked so well for the past 70 years ought not to be tinkered with today.
“There was a discussion in the Constituent Assembly on this issue [of Hindi as a common language]... at the time, many opposed this move owing to the wide range of languages spoken in our country. By the BJP’s proposed imposition, for those whom Hindi is not their mother-tongue will feel disadvantaged and national unity will suffer,” he said.
He said 60% or more of the parliamentarians today speak in Hindi. “But those who cannot speak it must be made to feel that India is their country as well where they will be heard,” he said, adding that English had proven useful as a “linking language” in transcending communication barriers.
In the event that Hindi was decreed as the language to be used for all administrative and bureaucratic purposes, Mr. Tharoor observed that non-Hindi speakers, especially those in the southern States, would feel like second-class citizens compelled to master a second language just to know what their rights were.
“We have been trying to make the BJP understand these problems over the common language imposition issue both within Parliament and without, but they simply aren’t willing to even listen,” the senior Congressman said.
Asserting that the BJP’s intransigence over the issue was the main reason why the party had failed to make any significant electoral gains in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, he said the BJP’s perpetual promotion of its idea of ‘Hindi, Hindutva and Hindustan’ was “dangerous” for the country’s unity.
He said while Prime Minister Modi deserved respect in foreign countries as a representative of the nation, the Opposition and citizens had the right to ask him questions when he is in India.
Refuting suggestions of a crisis at the top, he said the Congress was gearing up for crucial State elections as the reins were now firmly in the hands of its president Sonia Gandhi.
“She [Ms. Gandhi] is very capable and is working very hard… I think the question of our leadership crisis following Rahul Gandhi’s resignation ought to be put to rest by now,” Mr. Tharoor said.
Commenting on the spate of defections bedevilling the Congress in Maharashtra ahead of the Assembly polls, he said the party had no difficulty finding new candidates.
“We have taken the stand that if people want to leave for opportunistic reasons, then let them leave because they don’t have the conviction that makes for a committed Congress.” He said those who had stood by the party in tough times were the ones whose hearts were enshrined with the values and principles of the Congress.
