‘I’ve better things to do’: Shashi Tharoor responds to Congress criticism over his LoC remarks

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday took a sharp jibe at his own party leaders for their criticism of his remarks on India’s military operations across the Line of Control (LoC) and slammed the "zealots" for “distorting” his views.

Tharoor’s remarks in Panama that India crossed the LoC for the first time in 2016 during a surgical strike on a terror base had invited wrath from a section of Congress leaders who claimed the country had done such operations in the past, too.

“After a long and successful day in Panama, I have to wind up at midnightvhere with departure for Bogota, Colombia in six hours, so I don’t really have time for this,” the MP said in a post on X.

He, however, issued a clarification on his speech for “those zealots fulminating about my supposed ignorance of Indian valour across the LoC in the past”, saying he was speaking only about reprisals for terrorist attacks and not about previous wars.

READ | ‘There is a limit to political desperation’: Kiren Rijiju backs Shashi Tharoor amid criticism from Congress

“My remarks were preceded by a reference to the several attacks that have taken place in recent years alone, during which previous Indian responses were both restrained and constrained by our responsible respect for the LoC and the IB,” he said.

“But as usual, critics and trolls are welcome to distort my views and words as they see fit. I genuinely have better things to do,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP added.

The controversy started after senior Congress leader Udit Raj took to social media on Thursday to fact-check Tharoor’s claims and accused the MP of denigrating the party's history. Highlighting the past events of the Indian Army crossing the border when Congress was in power, Raj asked how Tharoor could be so “dishonest” to the party.

Later, senior Congress leaders Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh, too, endorsed Raj’s post, claiming India had conducted cross-LoC strikes during the previous governments.

Later in the day, Union minister Kiren Rijiju came in support of Tharoor, saying there was a limit to “political desperation”.

“What does the Congress party want & how much do they really care for the country? Should the Indian MPs go to a foreign nation and speak against India and its prime minister?” the minister asked.