'Hindu rashtra an assault on basis of nationhood': Tharoor says Hindi-centric 'national narrative' will make South, Northeast India 'irrelevant'

-

Kolkata: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said the south and northeast of India will become "irrelevant" in comparison to the north, as the national narrative is increasingly becoming a Hindi-speaking one.

File photo of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. PTI

File photo of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. PTI

Tharoor, speaking at the Kolkata Literature Festival, said the idiom of the Indian narrative has "overwhemingly" moved to the north, "the so-called BIMARU states such as Bihar, MP, UP, moving from places like Bengal or Kerala". "The south and northeast will become irrelevant as compared to the north," he said.

Referring to a "trivial fact," Tharoor said in Parliament, BJP ministers reply in Hindi to questions asked in English, as "this is their audience".

"To create a primordially Hindu rashtra is a fundamental assault on the very basis of nationhood..." the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said during a session on 'Disorder, Darkness and the Tharoor way'.

Tharoor said the old idiom that when Bengal catches cold India sneezes, is no more true. "Instead, now if northern India catches the cold, Bengal, Kerala sneezes. It is their cold affecting us."

He said one magical thing about the country is that one can be a good Bengali, a good Muslim, but also a good Indian. "You are secure of your different identities because you are secure of your Indian identity guaranteed by the Constitution," the three-time Congress MP added.



from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2OFiJ40
Press Trust of India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Both COVID-19 vaccine doses needed for good protection against B16172 variant

-
It’s been a concerning few weeks in the UK, with the B16172 variant first taking hold and then spreading to become dominant. This more infectious form of the virus, initially identified in India, is what we’re now going to have to live with – unless it is out-competed by another variant in the future. Worryingly, experts had predicted that B16172 might be able to escape some of the effects of vaccines, which if true would threaten to derail the UK’s plans to finish lifting restrictions from the end of June. However, Public Health England (PHE) has looked at the ability of various variants to evade immunity and says that the UK’s vaccines remain effective against the variants circulating, including B16172. On the surface, this looks like good news. But delve a bit deeper, and things get more complicated, says Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. PHE’s research found a little drop-off in protection against B16172 among people who were fully vaccinated.
Read more

New coronavirus variant emerge in India: How should our COVID response change?

-
Image
After genome sequencing of over 10,000 COVID-19 cases in India, researchers have discovered a new variant with two new mutations which may be better at evading the immune system. In 15-20 percent of samples from the Indian state of Maharashtra (the state accounting for 62 percent of cases in the country) a new, double mutation in key areas of the virus has been detected. These are now known as the E484Q and L452R mutations. What makes the variant different? Both these mutations are concerning because they are located in a key portion of the virus – the spike protein – that it uses to penetrate human cells. Spike proteins attach via a “receptor binding domain”, meaning the virus can attach to receptors in our cells. These new mutations include changes to the spike protein that make it a “better fit” for human cells. This means the virus can gain entry more easily and multiply faster. Given what we have seen with other similar mutations , it might also make it harder for our immu
Read more

120 flights delayed, 30 trains running late; Delhi fog & cold wave continue to give shiver to travellers

-
Arrival and departure of 120 flights, both domestic and international, to Delhi airport were affected due to dense fog and cold wave conditions on Wednesday, according to Delhi Airport FIDS (Flight Information Display System). As per the Delhi Airport FIDS, a total of 53 flights, including 21 domestic arrivals, 16 domestic departures, 13 international departures and three international arrivals scheduled are cancelled and not operating due to fog and other operational reasons from and to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the national capital on 17 January. #WATCH | Delhi: Several flight operations delayed at IGI airport due to low visibility amid fog. pic.twitter.com/hG1DUKllEt — ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2024 Visuals from the Delhi airport showed passengers waiting outside, checking update of their scheduled flights. There were also some people waiting for flight of their families, friends and loved ones to arrive, which got delayed due to fog. #WATCH | Delhi | Pas
Read more