Congress MP and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday accused the ruling BJP of “wounding” India’s soul by “unleashing forces of intolerance, hatred and bigotry”.
Such a climate did not prevail in the past, he said during an interaction organised here by the All India Professionals Congress (APIC), of which he is the chairman.
Referring to the barbaric rape-and-murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir, Tharoor said it was inexcusable to defend the perpetrators of the ghastly crime which has caused a national outrage.
“This is done in the name of religion. No one is saying the BJP or the government run by the party is directly responsible for this. But, it has unleashed forces of intolerance, hatred and bigotry.
“If they had mismanaged the economy, at least they should have protected the social fabric. But, they have wounded India’s soul,” the parliamentarian-author said.