Bengaluru: On the occasion of Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary on January 12, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor put out a tweet, eulogising Swami Vivekananda and his message of universal tolerance and acceptance. 


While the monk’s message is germane to the present-day world, where bigotry, zealotry and other vices rule the roost, Mohandas Pai, former director of Infosys questioned Shashi Tharoor if he has the guts to ask the same question to his Muslim and Christian supporters. 

 

Incidentally, on the same day, when Shashi Tharoor was in Jamia Millia to express solidarity with the students, protesters shouted him down as he addressed them with the chants ‘La Ilaha Ilallah’, which means “There is no other God but Allah”. 

 

There is a reason why a preachy Shashi Tharoor received this response. A few days earlier, he had expressed his apprehensions that the anti-CAA protests were being hijacked by Islamist fundamentalists. He had even assured that the pluralism and diversity of the country would not be supplanted by any form of religious fundamentalism. 

This tweet was enough to disturb the radical Islamist elements. They went on to question his soft bigotry and asked him not to intervene in such matters. 

Also Read: Shashi Tharoor objects to Islamic fundamentalism, receives backlash

And in a desperate bid to balance his moves, he even went to the extent of comparing Hindutva (a term which the pseudos find offensive, but in reality means “Hinduness”) to Islam and Christianity. But there too, his bluff was exposed as he received backlashes. 

Also Read: Shashit Tharoor compares Hindutva with Christianity, faces backlash

The Citizenship Amendment Act which has created a lot of rift in different parts of the country gives citizenship to persecuted non-Muslims of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. 
The Prime Minister has consistently reiterated that the Act is one which doesn’t take away the citizenship of anyone but only grants it to the persecuted. 

And for those, who preach tolerance and acceptance to only Hindus, will they ever understand Hinduism’s true significance?