Political failures should not result in loss of soldiers’ lives: Shashi Tharoor

Congress MP and former international diplomat Shashi Tharoor was speaking at Military Literature Festival

Congress MP and former international diplomat Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said that political failures should not result in the loss of lives of soldiers.

In conversation with Maj Gen Ashok Mehta (retd) at the fourth edition of Military Literature Festival, Tharoor said: “Military is there to save the country from its enemies. It can be used in emergency situations, but the domain of the two (politics and army) should be kept firmly apart.”

Tharoor, who has also served as a minister of state for external affairs, said if politicians do their job well, lives of soldiers will not be put to needless risk. “Many situations on our borders need to be resolved through diplomacy and trade itself is an aspect of diplomatic relationship,” he said.

Tharoor also touched upon the ongoing debate on Hindi as the national language. He said that the move, being pushed by the ruling party, will run into resistance from those who feel themselves at disadvantage if any language is taking over their own language.

“Hindi may win the hearts and tongues of a majority population, but it should never be imposed upon the unwilling. It will divide the country. We should understand the complexity and diversity of languages in our country and realise that this diversity is our strength. Let languages evolve and people will use them when they need to use them,” he said.