Shashi Tharoor reacts amid backlash over his tweet on Pervez Musharraf
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New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has been facing severe backlash after he termed Pervez Musharraf as ‘a real force for peace’ in his message condoling the death of the former Pakistan military ruler, on Sunday.
He posted another tweet saying 'I was raised in an India where you are expected to speak kindly of people when they die’. ‘Musharraf was an implacable enemy and was responsible for Kargil but he did work for peace w/India, in his own interest, 2002-7. He was no friend but he saw strategic benefit in peace, as did we,’ Tharoor said in an apparent clarification while still standing by his words.
Tharoor on Sunday tweeted his condolence message saying that 'once an implacable foe of India, he became a real force for peace between 2002-2007."
‘I met him annually in those days at the @un & found him smart, engaging & clear in his strategic thinking. RIP,’ the former minister of state for external affairs said.
His tweets did not go down well with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrashekhar hitting out at Tharoor saying his post "best describes Cong".
Chandrashekhar slammed the party for Tharoor’s comments on Musharraf who according to him ‘inflicted terror a backstabbing conflict and tortured our soldiers in violation of every International law".
"Nothing like a proper military thrashing for Fatcat Pak Dictator Generals to become a "force for peace" n develop "clear strategic thinking". Not withstandng many lives lost n Intl laws violated n harm caused all around, these Generals will hv their admiring fans in India (sic)," Chandrasekhar wrote in his tweet.
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia also criticised Tharoor and slammed Congress for eulogising a person who attacked India during Kargil.
Musharraf died on Sunday at American Hospital in the UAE after a prolonged illness. He was the tenth president of Pakistan after a successful military coup in 1999 ruling the country for nearly a decade.
The conflict between India and Pakistan is believed to have been orchestrated by Musharraf without the knowledge of the then Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif.