The BJP on Monday took strong exception to Shashi Tharoor’s remarks comparing JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar with freedom fighter Bhagat Singh even as the Congress distanced itself from its MP’s statement.
While senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said “nobody can be compared to Bhagat Singh,” his party colleague Manish Tewari dismissed Tharoor’s remarks saying, “There has been only one Bhagat Singh. There is only one Bhagat Singh.”
“There was only one Bhagat Singh and he cannot be compared with any of these boys of these days. Another Bhagat Singh cannot be born again,” Azad said.
Tharoor, while addressing a group of students in JNU on Sunday night, listed the names of victims of sedition law under British rule. “The biggest victims of sedition law under the British rule were Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Annie Besant,” he said. When a girl mentioned the name of Bhagat Singh, Tharoor lost no time in remarking that “Bhagat Singh was the Kanhaiya Kumar of his time.” Tharoor later sought to clarify that he did not intend to equate Kanhaiya with Bhagat Singh.
However, the BJP termed Tharoor’s comment as an insult to the “great freedom fighter” as well as all patriots of the country. BJP leader and actor Paresh Rawal also criticised Tharoor’s IQ for such a statement. Rawal tweeted: “At the cost of repeating myself I must say @shashiTharoor IQ is lower than his shoe size!”
“Bhagat Singh went to the gallows chanting Bharat Mata ki jai while fighting for the country’s Independence. Comparing Kanhaiya Kumar with Bhagat Singh is an insult to the freedom fighter and all the patriots. Shashi Tharoor should tell if Kanhaiya is Bhagat Singh, then what are Rahul and Sonia Gandhi,” BJP’s Shahnawaz Hussain said.
“Nowadays Congress leaders have begun insulting our martyrs for cheap popularity. Bhagat Singh went to gallows hailing Mother India while we all know what Kanhaiya is accused of. You can praise anybody you wish but you should not insult martyrs,” said BJP leader Shrikant Sharma, noting that even High Court’s conditional bail order for the JNUSU student spoke about “infection” of anti-nationalism.