‘I am a Hindu But Not of This Kind’: Tharoor on Lynching Incidents

Tharoor also said that Pakistan is the “least qualified” country to criticise India on the Kashmir issue.

File image of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. 

(Photo: The Quint)

“It is an insult to Lord Ram that people are being killed in his name,” Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said on Saturday, 22 September, at the Pune International Literary Festival, news agency PTI reported.

Speaking at a session titled 'Truly Yours', the author of the book, Why I Am A Hindu, went on to say that lynching incidents are insults to the Hindu religion.

“Is this our Bharat? Is this what Hindu Dharam says? I am a Hindu but not of this kind. Also, while killing people, they are asked to say ‘Jai Sri Ram’. It is an insult to Hindu Dharma,” he said.

Tharoor named a few lynching incidents to condemn them.

“What have we seen in last six years? It started with the killing of Mohsin Shaikh in Pune. Then, Mohammed Akhlaq was killed saying he was carrying beef. But it was reported later that it was not beef. Even if it was beef, who gave anyone the right to kill a person?” he said.

He further suggested that political power is instrumental behind the lynchings.

“Pehlu Khan had the licence to carry cow in lorry for dairy farming, but he was also lynched. One election result gave so much power to such people that they do anything and kill anyone?” he said.

‘Pak Least Qualified to Criticise India on Kashmir’

Speaking at the event, Tharoor said that Pakistan is the "least qualified" country to criticise India on the Kashmir issue, especially in view of its own record in PoK.

"I would like to send an implicit message outside. We may have differences within our country but when it comes to India's interest, it is not the BJP's foreign policy, nor is it Congress' foreign policy. It is the Indian foreign policy," Tharoor asserted.

"I will continue to attack the government on domestic issues, but when it comes to the international position, I feel Pakistan is the least qualified country to criticise India on Kashmir issue. Look at what they have done to PoK (Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir)," he said.