Asserting that incidents and comments against Muslims werebound to attract negative reactions abroad, senior Congress leader ShashiTharoor on Friday said it is more important to change the domestic reality thando damage control, while referring to India’s criticism in the Arab states overalleged “Islamophobia”.
What matters is not what the government says but how it isperceived because of what it does, or let others do, Tharoor said, and allegedthat the Modi government has “shamefully failed” to curb theappalling behaviour of many of its “most rabid supporters”, includingsome in high positions.
“Let us not forget that ‘Ramzade/Hara…..’ commentcame from a minister, and the latest remark from a BJP MLA in UP telling peoplenot to buy vegetables from a Muslim vendor,” Tharoor said.
His remarks were an apparent reference to 2014 commentsreportedly made by Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, and the recentcontroversy triggered by Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA Suresh Tewari who allegedlyasked people not to buy vegetables from Muslim vendors. The BJP on Tuesdayissued a show cause notice to Tewari for his remarks.
In an interview to PTI, Tharoor alleged that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has, throughout the last six years, been too slow to”condemn his party’s bigotry and has condoned overt expressions ofIslamophobia from his own camp”.
“The attitude that India loves Muslims so long as theyare outside India, but insults them at home, is not tenable in a world ofinstant global communications. The mounting number of incidents and statementsagainst Muslims in India was bound to attract negative attention abroad,”the former Union minister said.
His remarks came in the backdrop of angry reactions from UAEroyal princess, Kuwait government and other leading citizens from various Arabcountries after some people blamed Muslims for spreading COVID-19 in severalparts of India following a spurt in coronavirus cases linked to Tablighi Jamaatmeet at Nizamuddin here.
Also, the 57-member prominent international Mulim grouping,Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), recently accused India of”Islamophobia”.
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastavaon Thursday dismissed all such allegations and highlighted Prime Minister Modiand External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s regular conversations with theircounterparts from the region in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, to stressthe closeness in ties.
Responding to the criticism in Gulf nations and by the OIC,Tharoor said the backlash is not surprising.
“While I welcome the PM’s and the Foreign Minister’sattempts at damage control, it is far more important to change the domesticreality than to issue reassuring statements,” the MP fromThiruvananthapuram said.
Asked about plea by several Indians stuck in the GulfCooperation Council (GCC) countries and his request to the prime minister andthe external affairs minister to expedite their evacuation, Tharoor said everynation has a responsibility towards its citizens.
He claimed that the government’s argument is that a largenumber of travellers from abroad would place an unsustainable degree of strainon the country’s healthcare and quarantine facilities.
“If that was true 40 days ago, it is no longer truenow. We must bring our own citizens back. It is not just a matter of theirrights, but of what’s right morally, emotionally and constitutionally,”the Congress leader said.
Tharoor also demanded that in these difficult times of thepandemic, the Centre must give the state governments their dues.
It is shocking that GST dues have not been paid despitestates, and the Congress calling for this for more than two months, he said.
“Give the states their own money, so they don’t have tobeg for resources to combat the virus. In addition, yes, extra support will beneeded for those states facing a larger COVID-19 burden,” Tharoor said.
“The ordinary people of our country also need financialhelp so they can help themselves. We have been calling for Rs 7,500 to be putinto every Jan Dhan account. This is far from happening, several weeks after wesuggested it,” he said.
Asked about Kerala doing well in the fight against theCOVID-19 pandemic and whether other states need to emulate its model, Tharoorsaid Kerala has been a model state in terms of its social developmentindicators for a long time, but the practices and systems it has built up takegenerations to entrench.
Kerala spends a large portion of its state resources onhealth care and public education, promotes literacy and women’s empowerment,and gives village-level local authorities autonomy and funds, he said.
Other states should emulate it, but it will take them a longtime to reorient their current practices to get there, he added.