New Delhi, January 10, 2010
File photo of Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor.
Dr Tharoor was the chairman at the event on January 8 where British member of Parliament and well-known political scientist Lord Bhikhu Parekh had spoken on "India's Place in the World".
Some newspapers today said Dr Tharoor had joined Lord Parekh in debunking Nehruvian foreign policy as a "moralistic running commentary".
At a press conference in his office today, the Minister said Lord Parekh's speech was an hour-long and largely positive analysis of the trends in Indian foreign policy.
"While he exprssed some criticisms of past policies, these were not inappropriate in an academic setting dedicated to free discussion of global issues, and in any case were expressed in constructive terms," he said.
According to Dr Tharoor, in his chairman's remarks at the conclusion of the event, and while summarising Lord Parekh's main points, he had stated: "That Indian foreign policy drew from our sense of civilisation, and the extraordinary contribution by Mahatma Gandhi and Nehruji's articulation of our civilisational heritage, both enhanced India's standing in the world but also earned us the negative reputation of running a moralistic commentary on world affairs - that has come through very clearly in your speech."
He said that he had gone on to point out that there was more to Nehruvian policies than that, alluding to the use of force in Goa as an example of realpolitik in Indian policy.
"At no stage did I say what the Times of India, Mail Today and the Asian Age place within quotation marks. It is a basic tenet of good journalism that any quotations within quotation marks should be the exact words spoken. This was manifestly not the case. The Asian Age even quotes extensively from Lord Parekh's remarks and attributes them to me. This is not merely unprofessional, it is dishonest. I demand a correction," he said.
"I expressed my agreement with Lord Parekh's views of Indian civilisation, secularism and pluralism, which accord closely with my own - and indeed with the profound convictions of the Congress party and the UPA Government," he said.
Dr Tharoor said some television channels had even run stories on the basis of inaccurate press reporting, without even checking the tape of his remarks. "That reflects very poorly on their professionalism or lack thereof," he said.
He said there were other media outlets present at the event which had the integrity not to report a distorted version of his remarks and applauded those news channels and newspapers that saw the remarks in context.
"Not one among the large numbers of professional diplomats present found anything remotely contoversial in the event. I am sure the tape is available for verification. How many of those who have written or spoken about this matter have actually seen the tape or heard my remarks?" he asked.
"Irresponsible reporting may briefly gratify a few sensation-seekers in the media but they do no credit to the need for informed discussion of foreign policy issues in our democracy. India deserves better. So, frankly, do I," he added.
Congress spokesmen who appeared to be critical of the reported remarks by Dr Tharoor yesterday indicated they were satisfied with his clarification. Spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the party had nothing more to add after the minister's statement on the subject.
Dr Tharoor, along with External Affairs Miniser S M Krishna, had attracted criticism late last year after a newspaper reported that they had been staying in suites in two five-star hotels in the capital because the official houses allotted to them were not ready for occupation.
Though both ministers had paid for the suites and other expenses out of their own pockets, their decision to stay in five-star hotels did not go down well with the Congress leadership, which had launched an austerity drive because of the drought in many parts of the country at that time. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had publicly "requested" both of them to move out of the hotels immediately. Dr Tharoor had already moved out of the hotel before the media report had appeared.
In the same month, September, Dr Tharoor had got involved in another controversy with his "cattle class" remark about economy class air travel and had to tender an apology.
The remark was made by him on micro-blogging site Twitter when a journalist asked him, "Tell us Minister, next time you travel to Kerala, will it be cattle class?"
To this, the former United Nations Under-Secretary General had replied, "Asbolutely, in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows." Though the remark caused an outrage among his party colleagues, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself had made light of it, saying it was a joke.
More recently, Dr Tharoor seemed to have upset Mr Krishna and some other colleagues in the Government and the party with his Twitter comments on the restrictions placed recently by the Government on multiple-entry visas for tourists from abroad as a security measure. The comments were seen as a criticism of the Government's decision, prompting Mr Krishna to say that it was he who decided on policy in the Ministry and that others have to be on the same page.
