Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has come under fire from his party colleagues yet again after he claimed that India never breached the Line of Control (LoC) and conducted cross-border strikes in Pakistan before 2016.
Addressing a gathering in Panama City as the head of one of the seven multi-party delegations that have travelled abroad to campaign for Operation Sindoor, the Congress MP said, "What has changed in recent years is that the terrorists have also realised they will have a price to pay. On that, let there be no doubt. When, for the first time, India breached the Line of Control between India and Pakistan to conduct a surgical strike on a terror base, a launchpad - the Uri strike in September 2016. That was already something we had not done before."
"Even during the Kargil War, we had not crossed the Line of Control; in Uri, we did, and then came the attack in Pulwama in January 2019. This time, we crossed not only the Line of Control but also the international border, and we struck the terrorist headquarters in Balakot. This time, we have gone beyond both of those. We have not only gone beyond the Line of Control and the international border. We have struck at the Punjabi heartland of Pakistan by hitting terror bases, training centres, terror headquarters in nine places," he added.
The Congress parliamentarian, whose selection by the BJP-led Centre to lead the multi-party delegation irked his party, also said in an apparent praise to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, "Our Prime Minister has made it very clear. Operation Sindoor was necessary because these terrorists came and wiped the sindoor off the foreheads of 26 women, depriving them of their husbands."
"In fact, some women cried out to the terrorists, 'kill me too'. And they said, 'No, go back, tell what happened to you. We heard, we heard their cries and India decided that the colour of the Sindoor, the vermilion colour on the forehead of our women, will also match the colour of the blood of the killers, the perpetrators, the attackers," he added.
Shashi Tharoor's statements sparked strong responses from his party colleagues with Congress leader Udit Raj calling him a "super spokesperson of the BJP."
Tagging Tharoor's remarks, Raj said, "My dear Shashi Tharoor, Alas! I could prevail upon PM Modi to declare you as super spokesperson of BJP, even declaring (you) as the foreign minister before landing in India. How could you denigrate the golden history of Congress by saying that before PM Modi , India never crossed LoC and International border."
"In 1965 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 UPA government several surgical strikes were unleashed but drum beating was not done to encash (it) politically," he said.
How could you be so dishonest to the party which gave you so much, asked Raj, who is the chairman of the Unorganised Workers and Employees Congress Other Than Professionals.
Echoing Raj's remarks, Congress's media head, Pawan Khera, who reshared his post on X, also tagged Tharoor in a video in which former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke about the surgical strikes conducted during the UPA era.
Last month also, Raj had hit out at Tharoor for his reported "no country has 100-per cent foolproof intelligence" remarks, wondering that being a Congressman, how did he become the BJP's lawyer and was giving the ruling party a "clean chit" on the Pahalgam terror attack.
Tharoor had hit back at Raj, saying the latter is a former BJP MP and "is better qualified to understand who speaks for the BJP".
In a post on X, Raj had said, "According to you Congress should guarantee foolproof intelligence to BJP and nothing should be asked of the BJP."
"Shashi Tharoor said no country has 100 per cent foolproof intelligence? At the time of 26/11 Mumbai attack, Modi ji had said after reaching Mumbai from Gujarat that it is the failure of the central government. He also said that the problem is the Centre and not the border. How did the terrorists come when the intelligence, BSF, CRPF are with the Centre. Tharoor ji, ask from Modi ji," Raj had said.
Following the Pahalgam attack, Tharoor has been making comments on the India-Pakistan conflict that are at variance with the party's stand, which has been questioning the government over US President Donald Trump's claims of mediating a ceasefire between the two countries.
