Shashi Tharoor slams 'zealots' after Congress leader's 'super BJP' taunt

Congress MP Shashi Thaoor clarifies his remarks on surgical strikes were about recent terror attack responses, not past wars, after party colleague Udit Raj's criticism

 

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday defended his recent remarks on surgical strikes, clarifying that he was “clearly and explicitly” referring to retaliatory actions for terrorist attacks in recent years and not to India’s past wars — as criticism from within his own party mounted.

 

“I don’t really have time for this — but anyway: For those zealots fulminating about my supposed ignorance of Indian valour across the LoC in the past, my remarks were preceded by a reference to the several attacks that have taken place in recent years alone, during which previous Indian responses were both restrained and constrained by our responsible respect for the LoC and the IB,” Tharoor said in a post on X.

 

 

The clarification came after Congress leader Udit Raj criticised Tharoor over comments he made in Panama as part of a multi-party delegation. Tharoor, who is leading the group on a five-country tour, said that when India crossed the LoC for the first time to conduct surgical strikes on a terror base, “that was something we had not done before".

 

Reacting to Tharoor’s remarks in Panama, Raj alleged that Tharoor is acting like “the spokesperson for the publicity stunts of the BJP". He claimed that Tharoor’s comments were even more vocal than those made by BJP leaders themselves and accused the government of taking credit for the actions of the Indian Armed Forces.                                                                                                          

Tharoor stated that critics and trolls were welcome to distort his views and words as they saw fit. "I genuinely have better things to do. Goodnight," he said.

 

Tagging Tharoor's remarks on surgical strikes, Raj had said on Wednesday, "How could you denigrate the golden history of Congress by saying that before PM Modi, India never crossed the LoC and International border."

 

"In 1965, the Indian Army entered Pakistan at multiple points, which completely surprised the Pakistanis in the Lahore sector. In 1971, India tore Pakistan in two pieces and during the UPA government several surgical strikes were unleashed but drum beating was not done to encash (it) politically," he said. Raj asked how Tharoor could be so "dishonest" to the party that had given him so much.

 

Raj's post on X was also reposted by the Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh and the party's media and publicity department head Pawan Khera.

 

Taking a jibe at Tharoor, Khera had posted a picture which shows officers of the 4 Sikh Regiment posing outside a captured Pakistani police station in Burki, Lahore district. "This image is from the Battle of Burki (also known as the Battle of Lahore, 1965), a significant engagement during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, fought between Indian infantry units and Pakistani armoured forces," Khera had said.

 

In another post, Khera had put out a media report which quoted former prime minister Manmohan Singh as saying that India carried out multiple surgical strikes under the UPA rule.  The post was retweeted by Ramesh.

     (With inputs from agencies)