KOCHI: Hartal is in the bones of the people of Kerala, according to Shashi Tharoor MP. “It is high time it stopped. I have spoken to Congress party leaders and former KPCC president M M Hassan agrees with me on this. We only see it in Kerala,” he told Express, on the sidelines of the panel discussion on ‘Democracy and Dissent’ held here at the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS).
He had posted the same on Thursday on social media while endorsing Hassan’s book ‘Satyameva Jayathe’. “Took the occasion to strongly endorse his call against hartals and requested the new KPCC head to disavow this vile political tactic,” he posted on Twitter.
When asked if post-flood rebuilding work is moving at a good pace, Tharoor said, “I would rather not comment on it now. We are all making efforts. It is a gradual process.” While addressing students, he raised concerns over the worrying tendency of mobs to take the law into their own hands. The fact that people resort to lynching to maintain “morality” is a cause of distress. He said sometimes dissent in democracy is taken for contempt, causing problems. The event was organised by the Centre for Human Rights and the NSS of NUALS. Advocates P A Pouran and Mathews J Nedumpara were present.