Shashi Tharoor on posters threatening Muslim traders in Uttarakhand: ‘Gandhi would be ashamed’

Tharoor’s comments were in response to the reports about posters surfacing in Uttarakhand town Monday, asking Muslim traders to shut shops by June 15.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor Tuesday reacted to the posters threatening Muslim traders in Uttarakhand to leave and called the incident “horrifying”. Tharoor, in a tweet, expressed his disappointment and remarked that if Mahatma Gandhi were alive today, he would be ashamed.

Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor speaks during an event in Mumbai. (PTI)

“This cannot be what we have reduced ourselves to. Gandhiji would be ashamed of the India we have created,” the Congress MP tweeted, quoting a media report.

Tharoor’s comments were in response to the reports about posters surfacing in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi town Monday, asking Muslim traders to shut shops by June 15. The incident happened in the wake of the ongoing tensions in the Himalayan state over the alleged abduction attempt on a minor girl by two men, including one from the minority community, last month, the police said.

Tensions erupt in Uttarkashi

Two men, a local shopkeeper Ubed Khan (24), and Jitender Saini, a motorcycle mechanic were arrested on May 27 in the case. The locals alleged the incident as a ‘love jihad’ bid - a term used by right-wing groups to describe an alleged conspiracy by Muslim men to woo Hindu women. It is to be noted that the courts and the Union government do not officially recognise the theory.

The posters surfaced in Uttarkashi’s Purola main market. “Love jihadiyon ko suchit kiya jata hai ki dinank June 15, 2023 ko hone wali mahapanchayat hone se purv apni dukanein khali kar de. Yadi tumhare dwara aisa nahi kiya jata, toh waqt par nirbhar karega (Love jihadists are informed that they should vacate their shops prior to a mahapanchayat to be held on June 15. If they don’t, it (consequences) will depend on time),” the posters, calling for ‘Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan’ (campaign for protection of land) read.

Two days prior to the incident, the right-wing group members also reportedly attacked shops and houses belonging to Muslims. The police said that efforts were underway to identify them and also noted that the posters were removed Monday itself and an inquiry has been initiated in the matter.

About 40 shops in the Purola market are run by Muslims.

Tharoor’s salvo at BJP

The Congress leader has been raking up the issues of hate crimes in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states, Uttarakhand being one under chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. Tharoor’s reference to Gandhi’s thoughts about the “India we have created” echoed his earlier statements against the saffron party, whom he has alleged to be inducing religious tensions across the country through their policies such as “demolition action” and “inaction on cow vigilantism”.

Previously, during a key party meeting in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur in February, the former union minister had also stressed the Congress’ responsibility in strengthening the secular foundations of the country. “The tendency to downplay some positions or avoid taking a stand on some issues in order not to alienate what we assume to be the sentiments of the majority only plays into the BJP's hands," Tharoor had said on party’s position on issues such as cow vigilantism, Bilkis Bano case among others.