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New Indian Express
20-07-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
‘Not against Gandhi family': Tharoor justifies article criticising Emergency
KOCHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday attempted to justify his controversial article criticizing the 1975 Emergency while clarifying that he 'said nothing against the Gandhi family'. Tharoor, who invited the wrath of senior party leaders through his controversial article, appeared to have mellowed down from his earlier stance. 'What I have written now was just similar to my writings in 1997, and has said nothing against the Gandhi family. I've (only) mentioned some individuals and incidents that happened at that time (Emergency),' the senior Congress leader told reporters here on the sidelines of a function organised by the Council for Community Co-operation at TDM Hall. Earlier, in his sharply worded article, which appeared on certain online platforms, Tharoor termed the 21-month Emergency (1975–77) a 'dark period' in India's democratic history and accused former prime minister Indira Gandhi of authoritarian overreach. He went further, calling out her son Sanjay Gandhi for 'terrible atrocities' such as forced sterilisation and the use of violence in rural areas. Tharoor wrote that the period 'severely tested the fundamental guarantees of equality, liberty, and fraternity' and left a lasting scar on Indian politics. Tharoor also defended his praising the Narendra Modi government over Operation Sindoor, saying that one has to prioritise national security over a political party. 'When people like me say that we respect our parties, we have certain values and convictions that keep us in our parties, but we need to cooperate with other parties in the interest of national security,' Tharoor said, while replying to a query. '...sometimes the parties feel disloyal to them. To my mind, the nation comes first. Parties are a means of making the nation better. So to my mind, whichever party you belong to, the objective of that party is to create a better India in its own way'.
The Hindu
19-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Not said anything against the Gandhi family, says Shashi Tharoor on Emergency article
Congress MP, Shashi Tharoor said here on Saturday that he has not said anything against the Gandhi family in his controversial article on the Emergency. 'I have mentioned about some individuals and incidents that happened at that time in the article', he told media persons on the sidelines of a meeting on 'Peace, Unity and National Development' organised by the Council for Community Co-operation here. 'You can read it to understand it. There is nothing new in the article', he said. On the survey that projected him as the best suited to become the Chief Minister of Kerala, which he had shared on the social media platform 'X' recently, Mr. Tharoor said that it was not done by him. 'I had only shared it', he said. In his speech at the meeting, Mr. Tharoor said that nation comes first to his mind. Parties are a means to make the nation better. 'Whichever party you belong to, the objective of that party is to create a better India in its own way. Now, parties have every right to disagree about the best way of doing that,' he said. He said that lot of people were critical of him because of the stance that he had taken supporting the Armed forces and the Union government on what happened recently in our borders. 'But I will stand my ground because it is the right thing for the country,' he said.
