After his wife's mysterious death in a hotel room, Shashi Tharoor, a former UN diplomat and present MP from Kerala, started lavishing praises on Prime Minister Modi; this comes as a mystery to some, while others pointed out if he was simply trying to save his own skin for his wife's suspicious death.
However, in a recent seminar in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram with the theme ‘Standing up to hatred: Violence and intolerance in contemporary India’, Tharoor asked in his speech why Prime Minister, who could wear "Outlandish, Hilarious Naga Headdress, Feathers, and various kinds of extraordinary outfits" of ethnic minority, refuses to wear just one thing alone: Muslim Skullcaps.
Muslims formed his party's traditional votebank, whereas Modi's got his major vote from the Hindus. The two belong to Congress and BJP parties, respectively.
Back to the skullcap, Modi in time past publicly refused, when someone offered him a skullcap. That raises eyebrows. Understandably. In all fairness to Tharoor, BJP has no convincing answer till date.
With that being said, Tharoor, when compared to Modi or BJP or any other entity for that matter, is not a saint either. Mr. Tharoor does not speak for anything but his own gains alone – forget about caring for the Muslims. Just forget it. Remember his wife? She's found.... dead in a hotel room.
'Outlandish, Hilarious Naga Headdress, Feathers'
BJP's Twitter handles were lightning quick to point out Tharoor's faux pas:
Tharoor responded to one Rajyavardhan:
Conclusion
The criticism directed at BJP for sidestepping the Skullcap issue is valid. Shashi Tharoor himself however isn't a saint: 1) Pushing Naga Head Gear to margin, to alleviate skullcaps. 2) Sacred Attire of voiceless ethnic: victim of Tharoor's mindless politics of condescension & arrogance. BJP's right about above points (1 & 2).
References
Uproar after Shashi Tharoor terms Naga Headgear ‘Outlandish & Hilarious’