Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday sparked controversy after he shared a video of Taliban militia and alleged that the people were seen celebrating were from Kerala.
The celebratory video from a Twitter user called Ramiz showed two members of the Taliban crying in ecstasy after capturing the capital of Afghanistan Kabul. He captioned it as ‘#Taliban fighter weeping in Joy as they reached outside #Kabul knowing their victory is eminent.’
Tharoor then tweeted the video and wrote ‘It sounds as if there are at least two Malayali Taliban here — one who says “samsarikkette” around the 8-second mark & another who understands him!’
It sounds as if there are at least two Malayali Taliban here — one who says “samsarikkette” around the 8-second mark & another who understands him! https://t.co/SSdrhTLsBG
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 17, 2021
Ramiz then hit back at the Kerala politician saying there are no Malayalis involved in the Taliban. The people shown in the video are from Baloch and Zabul province who speak Brahvi language – which is a Dravidian language hence similar to Malayali – he further clarified.
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Tharoor then replied back and insisted that there have indeed been misguided Malayalis who joined the Taliban, so that possibility cannot be ruled out entirely. This sparked a controversy among the people in India and especially in Kerala who started questioning Tharoor over his statement.
One user wrote ‘With all respect sir, do we have any proof to say Malayalis have joined Taliban?’
However, undeterred by the flak, Tharoor said it's because he is the MP that he is aware of the situation. In past, he was approached by Kerala women whose daughters were stuck in Afghanistan after "having been taken there by their misguided husbands," Tharoor wrote adding that he had also arranged a meeting with then external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on this issue. "Obviously, it's as an MP that I am aware of the situation," he wrote.
Interesting explanation. WIll leave it to the linguists to figure this one out. But there have indeed been misguided Malayalis who joined the Taliban, so that possibility cannot be ruled out entirely. https://t.co/B6AuIqvjHf
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 17, 2021Advertisement
He then went on to share a published article about Nimisha Fathima, a Keralite woman who landed in Afghanistan jail following the killing of her IS husband a couple of years ago.
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Mathrubhui’s article that Tharoor shared said that the Taliban released over 5,000 prisoners from Kabul jails amongst whom there were eight Keralites including Nimisha.
