“Both Communities Were Involved, But One Was Overwhelmingly Victimised.” :Tharoor On Anti-CAA Protests In Delhi

Opposition stalwart and Congress leader, Shashi Tharoor, took a tough stance against Delhi Police in the context of the Anti-CAA protests in Delhi at the beginning of 2020. Critics said that the leader was being vindictive towards the Delhi Police for taking a tough stance against him in the alleged murder of his wife, Sunanda Pushkar. The leader, however, states his real reason:

“I was objecting to the unfairness of many of their procedures and sloppiness. And I wasn’t doing so by myself. I was quoting an article that was a study of 40 court judgments from various courts, of various levels in Delhi (up to and including the High Court) by an NGO. They have found the very words I have quoted in my tweet in the judgments that these courts have passed. These amounted to pretty embarrassingly severe restrictions on the way in which the police have handled the investigation. Let’s face it, both communities were involved. But one community was overwhelmingly victimised. Much of the incitement to hear and see on the record came from only one side. So, when you don’t pursue certain evidence in cases and incitement but you pursue others, it will be seen as a slipshod investigation and a biased one.”

Tharoor’s critics had earlier pointed out that the politician held a grudge against the Delhi Police for their persistent questioning of the leader in the alleged murder of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. Tharoor, however, denies any of that and clarifies:

“Nowhere on record have I said one word against the Delhi Police or the Judiciary at any stage of the investigations. On the contrary, as the police themselves have testified in court, they had 100% cooperation from my side. They were given access to my personal emails; they checked every single thing; raided my house and confiscated phones and laptops. At no stage was there any complaint that there was a lack of cooperation from my side. I respect the system and the process and I wanted to cooperate with sincerity. I am entitled to express my views (on incidents in the city) because I am not a directly involved party in this and I am speaking with objectivity.”

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This was probably the first time that he was speaking on the death of his wife after he was given a clean chit in the case recently. Tharoor refused to go into the details as “the wounds were still very raw and intensely personal”.

“The best way to cope with it (the situation) was to cooperate fully and let the police and the judiciary and the lawyers do their job, and concentrate on not letting this define who I am,” he says.