Shashi Tharoor’s comment about the BJP turning India into a ‘Hindu Pakistan’ if it is returned to power is irresponsible, provocative and divisive (“Tharoor’s ‘Hindu Pakistan’ comments spark anger”, July 15).
Mr. Tharoor is an unabashed flaunter of the secularist badge, but that cannot be the reason for him to indulge in scaremongering. The problem with Congress leaders is that in their overzealousness to trumpet their secularism, they end up antagonising the silent and tolerant majority which is the fulcrum on which India’s tradition of religious tolerance exists. Even a wordsmith like Mr. Tharoor needs to weigh his words carefully.
V.N. Mukundarajan,
Thiruvananthapuram
The BJP fears there is truth in Tharoor’s phraseology. The term Pakistan, one should logically assume, meant that country’s democracy, constitution and governance. The role of religion in administration and status of the main religion and other minority religions are clearly not acceptable to any democratic secular nation. In comparison, intolerance to dissent has been on the rise in India too. The role of the right wing in the present dispensation goes without saying. That the Congress is divided on the Tharoor issue, shows its part in the present situation that has arisen.
P.R.V. Raja,
Pandalam, Kerala
