Will BJP choose a Muslim or Christian PM : Tharoor asks

New Delhi: In the backdrop of the Indian origin Rishi Sunak becoming the prime minister of the United Kingdom, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that it is time to think about whether BJP will be ready to appoint a Muslim or Christian or anyone not Hindu, but Sikh, Buddhist or Jain or from a minority as PM of India.

He told NDTV that Sunak, whose race was considered inferior in the past, has been named their premiere.

When he had tweeted on similar lines, calling those he mentioned other than Hindus as "visible minorities", the tweets gathered flak, and users cited that his co-leader in the party, Manmohan Singh was PM of India for ten years. He was told that there were Muslim and Sikh presidents, too, for India.

He told NDTV that Manmohan Singh absolutely belongs to a visible minority community, but most Hindus do not see them as different. Hindutva ideologues see all religions born in the Indian subcontinent as "Indic" religions and closer to Hindus but don't see others the same way.

He pointed out that Rishi Sunak was an overt practitioner of Hindus and reminded that former UK PM Winston Churchill called Hindus "a beastly people with a beastly religion".

"Can you imagine an overt Christian or an overt Muslim, public about their faith, being embraced by the BJP as a fit Prime Minister for India?" NDTV quoted him asking. He added that BJP, which propagates Hindutva, does not even have Muslim MP.

Then he reminded the public outburst when Sonia Gandhi, an Italian origin who led a Congress alliance to victory, was marked as PM. He added that senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj threatened then that she would shave her head if Sonia was made PM.

Later he said that he was glad that Indians celebrating Sunak becoming PM and added that the same should reflect in India, too, in choosing our leaders.