THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Under attack for posting on X a picture of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya with a caption “Siyavar Ram Ki Jai”, Shashi Tharoor, MP, on Tuesday wondered why he, or for that matter, the Congress should relinquish Ram to BJP. “I do not see why I have to give up to the BJP a God I believe in and pray to every day. The BJP may want all Ram bhakts to vote for them. But the question is, is every Ram bhakt a BJP supporter? No, it’s not. I also wish to ask, why should the Congress relinquish Ram to the BJP? We can also accept and pray to God, we too have religion,” Tharoor said, addressing an event orgnaised by the KSU at the Law College, Thiruvananthapuram.
He clarified that the intention of his Monday’s post was to make clear his devotion to Ram, as well as to highlight the sidelining of Sita while hailing her husband.
Earlier, Tharoor was greeted at the Law College by SFI workers with slogans against him and his social media post. One of the banners held by the protesters read, “Shashi Tharoor, you are a disgrace to a democratic secular state”. Tharoor said the SFI workers were protesting as they doubted his secularist credentials. Secularism does not mean absence of religion, it means “pluralism” where everyone can profess the religion of their choice, he said.
“It’s unfortunate that because of a one-line post on X, I’m being branded as non-secular. I’ve already said about my stand as well as my party’s stand on the consecration of idols at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. KSU should give the SFI an opportunity to hold their protest. None in the Congress was opposing the Ram temple. Our opposition is against the event. If I go to a temple, it is to pray and not for political reasons. Someday I will go to Ayodhya, but it will be on my terms,” Tharoor added.