Congress leader and Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor was on Friday severely rebuked by the Indian Embassy in Kuwait for retweeting a post in which certain Kuwaiti Parliamentarians have called for banning entry of political leaders belonging to India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Indian Embassy official twitter account rapped Tharoor for sharing the post of a twitter handle (/@MJALSHRIKA) who happens to be a recipient of Pakistan’s Ambassador of Peace award in 2020 and is known for anti-Indian activities.
“Domestic actions have international repercussions. I hear from friends across the Gulf of their dismay at rising Islamophobia in India &the PM’s unwillingness to condemn it, let alone act decisively against it. “We like India. But don’t make it so hard for us to be your friends”,” Tharoor had originally commented on the retweet on Thursday.
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“Sad to see an Hon’ble Member of Indian Parliament retweeting an anti-India tweet by a Pakistani agent who was recipient of a Pakistani Award ‘Ambassador of Peace’ for his anti-India activities. We should not encourage such anti-India elements,” Indian embassy in Kuwait commented on Tharoor’s tweet along with a photograph of the award certificate given to “agent” by Pakistan.
Domestic actions have international repercussions. I hear from friends across the Gulf of their dismay at rising Islamophobia in India &the PM’s unwillingness to condemn it, let alone act decisively against it. “We like India.But don’t make it so hard for us to be your friends”. https://t.co/Bj9es8fbfS
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) February 18, 2022
Sad to see an Hon’ble Member of Indian Parliament retweeting an anti-India tweet by a Pakistani agent who was recipient of a Pakistani Award ‘Ambassador of Peace’ for his anti-India activities. We should not encourage such anti-India elements. https://t.co/e43MAmc50j pic.twitter.com/v3hoL582tL
— India in Kuwait (@indembkwt) February 18, 2022Advertisement
I don't endorse this individual, whom i'd never heard of, but am concerned about the sentiment he conveys, which is sadly shared by many who are friends of India. While accepting @indembkwt's view, I urge GoI not2give ammo to such anti-India elements by condoning misconduct here. https://t.co/5McqqMwqtQ
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) February 18, 2022
To this, Tharoor replied that he doesn’t endorse the individual’s activities rather he is pointing towards India’s reputation which has been damaged amongst well-wishers of India. “I don't endorse this individual, whom i'd never heard of, but am concerned about the sentiment he conveys, which is sadly shared by many who are friends of India. While accepting /@indembkwt's view, I urge GoI not 2 give ammo to such anti-India elements by condoning misconduct here,” Tharoor commented in his defence.
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The original post sharing the letter calling for ban on the BJP members was tweeted by Mejbel Al Sharika, a Kuwaiti lawyer and Director of International Human Rights. In 2020, he had set up a legal team to combat Islamophobia on social media platforms for India as well as the Gulf.
