'Malicious distortion': Shashi Tharoor after row over Ram temple remark

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has once again triggered a controversy with his remark on the politically sensitive issue of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Speaking at ‘The Hindu Lit for Life Dialogue 2018’ in Chennai on Sunday, Tharoor said that no good Hindu would want Ram temple at the disputed site by demolishing somebody else's place of worship.

Referring to the demolition of Babri mosque in December 1992, Tharoor had said that “most good Hindus would want to see a Ram temple at the site where Ram was supposed to be born. But I also believe that no good Hindu would have wanted to see that temple built by demolishing somebody else's place of worship."

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The remarks of the Congress leader didn’t go down well with the BJP, who extensively campaigned in favour of Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya and included the issue in its election manifesto.

Hitting out at Tharoor, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said, "Who are the Congress or Tharoor to decide? Who are they to certify who is a good Hindu and who is bad Hindu? How can they play with the faith of crores of people?"

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar also slammed the Congress parliamentarian and said that remark showed how cutoff the Congress party was from reality.

“Astonished that Shashi Tharoor believes that true Hindus don’t want a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. This could be a view of Tharoor or Rahul Gandhi, not of people. This shows how cutoff they are from reality and how they only become Hindu during elections,” ANI quoted Javadekar as saying.

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Sensing the controversy, the Congress leader came out with a clarification and said that his worlds were maliciously distorted.

“I condemn the malicious distortion of my words by some media in the service of political masters. I said: “most Hindus would want a temple at what they believe to be Ram’s birthplace. But no good Hindu would want it to be built by destroying another’s place of worship,” he tweeted.

I was asked for my personal opinion at a literary festival & gave it as such. I am not a Spokesperson for my party & did not claim to be speaking for @incindia. https://t.co/aKeJvdLoqG

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 15, 2018