Cong distances itself from Tharoor's Bhagat Singh remark as BJP fumes
New Delhi: Congress on Monday virtually disapproved of party leader Shashi Tharoor comparing Jawaharlal Nehru University's students' chief Kanhaiya Kumar, facing sedition charges, with Bhagat Singh.
"There has been only one Bhagat Singh. There is only one Bhagat Singh", party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters when asked about Tharoor's remarks which has sparked a controversy.
Read: India not just Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan: Shashi Tharoor takes a dig at BJP
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad too shared similar views. He asserted that there could be only one Bhagat Singh and none of the boys from the present generation can replace the freedom fighter.
"I don't know what Shashi Tharoor has said but no one can replace Bhagat Singh, especially the boys of this generation. Only one Bhagat Singh can be born in this country and he is irreplaceable," said Azad.
Meanwhile, BJP has accused Tharoor, a former Union Minister, of insulting the legendery freedom fighter.
Addressing a group of students in JNU Sunday night, Tharoor, while listing the names of victims of sedition law under British rule had said Bhagat Singh was the Kanhaiya Kumar of his time.
"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, prompt came the remark that "Bhagat Singh was the Kanhaiya Kumar of his time."
The BJP took strong exception to Tharoor's comment saying it was an insult to the "great freedom fighter" as well as all patriots of the country.
"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.
Read: Freedom of expression does not give right for nation's destruction: BJP
Tharoor on his part clarified that he did not intend to equate Kanhaiya with Bhagat Singh. “You are finding one marginal thing which was said in response to a comment from the audience. Bhagat Singh was fighting colonial rule and foreign oppression and Kanhaiya is fighting for his beliefs in a very different democracy."
“So the situations are different but the comparison (was)-young, Marxist, idealist, passionately committed to their motherland, in their 20s... that’s all,” he said.
Tharoor earlier said, “India is not just Hindi, Hindu and Hindustan. We want an India with both Krishna and Kanhaiya Kumar. We want people of India — from every corner of this vast land — to have an equal stake in our future.”
