On Sunday, Congress leader and Member of Lok Sabha Shashi Tharoor took to Twitter to display his secular credentials ahead of the Eid. The Thiruvananthapuram MP not only wished Muslims of the country on the occasion of Islamic festival but also went a step ahead to wish his Muslim supporters in Arab world too.
In doing so, Shashi Tharoor ‘Arabized’ himself by posting an image of himself wearing ‘Thawb’. He posted the image on the micro-blogging site Twitter on the occasion of Eid.
“And for my friends in the Arab world,” read the tweet by Congress MP.
The exuberant tweet of Shashi Tharoor wishing the Arab on Eid, however, did not impress the netizens. At a time when a section of Arab Muslims has been indulging a series of anti-India propaganda, Shashi Tharoor’s tweet appeasing the Arab world received ire across social media platforms.
It is pertinent to note that there has been rising propaganda against India from a section of Muslims in gulf countries, who have joined hands with the Pakistanis, to spew venom against India. The troll accounts from the Arab world have cast aspersion on the country’s pluralistic credentials and have been propagating a false narrative asserting that Muslims in India were not treated respectfully.
The Indians living in Gulf were also targetted by a section of Muslims in the Gulf, backed by the ISI, who had resorted to pretending to be Arabs on social media to complain against these individuals by claiming they were ‘Islamophobes’.
The false propaganda against India came after the majority of the country’s population had voiced their anger against Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic seminary, which emerged as the most potent coronavirus super-spreader in India.
Shashi Tharoor, without comprehending the inherent prejudice in Arab societies against India, unfortunately decided to appease the Arabs on the occasion of Eid.
However, social media users were quick to express the hypocrisy of Shashi Tharoor, who questioned his reluctance to wish Indians, especially people belonging to indigenous faiths on their respective festivals.
One social media user said that he did not see Shashi Tharoor wishing the Indians on Bhagwan Mahaveer Jayanti wearing a similar attire associated with Jainism and exposed his dubiousness even in wishing people during their festivals.
A user named SS Singh, raised a relevant point by hoping that Arabs would reciprocate to Shashi Tharoor’s gesture by wishing Indians on Diwali, Holi, Ram Navmi, Durga Ashtami, with similar photos and wearing a traditional Indian dress, Tilak etc.
Another social media user Ballu Barjun also put out a similar concern just as SS Singh asking whether Arabs would reciprocate in the same manner just as Shashi Tharoor.
A user named Communal Communist, said the desperate act by Shashi Tharoor to appease Arab Muslims was nothing but ‘Cringe’.
Few other netizens had a humorous taken on the whole controversy. The social media users displayed their creativity to mock Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s theatrics on social media.
