‘Misquoted’ Shashi Tharoor blasts media

Shashi Tharoor swung into damage control mode on Sunday as news of his criticism of Jawaharlal Nehru’s foreign policy was widely reported and angry reactions of Congress leaders became public.

Tharoor called in a hurried news conference, reportedly after being ticked off by none other than prime minister Manmohan Singh. The minister of state for external affairs squarely blamed the media for misquoting him. Tharoor said he was “dismayed by the inaccurate and tendentious reporting of a statement attributed to me at a seminar organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs”, on Friday.

He said many of the remarks made by London School of Economics professor Lord Bhikhu Parekh during his hour-long speech on ‘India’s Place in the World’ was wrongly attributed to him. While he agreed that he did express some criticism of past policies, Tharoor pointed out that these were not inappropriate in an academic setting dedicated to free discussion of global issues; besides, they were expressed in constructive terms.

“In my chairman’s remarks at the conclusion of the event, while summarising Lord Parekh’s main points, I stated that ‘Indian foreign policy drew from our sense of civilisation, and the extraordinary contribution by Mahatma Gandhi and Nehruji’s articulation of our civilisational heritage, both enhanced India’s standing in the world but also earned us the negative reputation of running a moralistic commentary on world affairs — that has come through very clearly in your speech’,” he said. “I pointed out that there was more to Nehruvian policies than that, alluding to the use of force in Goa as an example of realpolitik in Indian policy.”    

Tharoor acknowledged that he “expressed my agreement with Lord Parekh’s views of Indian civilisation, secularism and pluralism, which accord closely with my own — and indeed with the profound convictions of the Congress party and the UPA government”. He also noted that Parkeh had suggested that India export its values and systems to the world. Tharoor said that in his intervention, he had “very gently and politely disagreed with Lord Parekh”.
He refused to divulge if anyone (read: the prime minister) had talked to him after the media reports. “Yes, I have spoken to a number of people who are disturbed about this type of press reporting. There are some press reports that are less tendentious. But as far as I am concerned, this is my view of the matter and I have shared this view with those I have spoken to,” Tharoor said. “We all like to trust the media ... I am truly shocked... none of the good works of the ministry gets reported but a five-minute summary of a seminar gets all the space.”

He added: “Let me be very honest. This is a seminar. Normally this does not even get reported. It was a serious discussion and there are a certain sets of assumptions. People know that we are not talking to people who are pulling out one sentence out of context. This is a serious discussion of people who understand foreign policy issues.”

He said he regretted that there were people in the audience who clearly did not have the background, the reading, the depth, the knowledge and the judgment to know what was being said.

This is the third time that the flamboyant junior minister has had to face party flak over indiscreet remarks, which often goes against laid down policies of the Congress party.

The party had earlier to rebuke him for his tweets on “cattle class” travel and “holy cow” remarks when the party announced austerity measures last year. Recently, Tharoor got a public dressing down by foreign minister SM Krishna over his indiscreet remarks on the new visa guidelines announced by the government.

Tharoor is a relative newcomer to Indian politics and a first-time Congress MP who was rewarded with the plum post of minister of state for external affairs. He has many detractors within the party who believe the newcomer should be cut down to size.

So far, Tharoor has managed to survive the controversies. This time around too, the Congress party spokesman has made it clear that after Tharoor’s clarification the chapter on Nehruvian foreign policy is closed. —With agency inputs