May 20, 2025 10:27 am (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
'Russia, Ukraine will immediately start negotiations for ceasefire': Donald Trump after call with Putin | 'Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places': Joe Biden on cancer diagnosis | Rahul Gandhi targets Jaishankar over Op. Sindoor again, BJP says LoP speaking Pak language | Supreme Court orders SIT probe into Madhya Pradesh minister's remarks on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi | Bengaluru: Woman killed after wall collapses on her after heavy rainfall | Pak forces targeted Golden Temple after India conducted Operation Sindoor: Army | YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, arrested for 'espionage', travelled to Pakistan ahead of Pahalgam attack | Centre picks Shashi Tharoor to head all-party delegation for 'exposing' Pak-backed terrorism globally | Rape convict, survivor express willingness to get married; exchange flowers in Supreme Court | 'Are nukes safe with irresponsible and rogue nation like Pakistan?': Rajnath Singh questions world
CAA
Shashi Tharoor at Oxford Bookstore in Kolkata | Image Credit: Avishek Mitra/IBNS

CAA protests could have transformed India's political discourse had there been no Covid: Shashi Tharoor

| @indiablooms | Dec 31, 2022, at 03:08 am

Kolkata/IBNS: The massive and often violent anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests could have "transformed" the country's political discourse, which is still deftly anchored by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had there been no Covid-19 pandemic, feels Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

Speaking on the current political discourse of the country at an Oxford Bookstore event, Tharoor said, "In my own view, if people feel that they are benefitting from a certain way of things, they often allow any other transgressions in the government. When things affect people directly like the sterilisation campaign in north India, people rise up in defence."

Shashi Tharoor at Oxford Bookstore in Kolkata | Image Credit: Avishek Mitra/IBNS

Adding to the context, he said, "It's interesting that the most significant opposition to this (BJP) government came when the CAA was passed. For the first time, people felt attacked not so much as Muslims but as Indian citizens. Their right to be an Indian was questioned and that had brought people out on the streets and of course many of us in solidarity and support.

"I think the government was a bit shaken by that (protests). They had really no clue as to how to end that series of persistent and escalating protests until Covid came and saved them. If it weren't for the Covid lockdown, those protests could have still transformed the political discourse of the country."

The erudite Thiruvananthapuram MP said this at an interactive session held at Oxford Bookstore in Park Street, Kolkata on Thursday.

Tharoor was present as the chief guest at the event which celebrated Oxford Bookstore's 100 years.

The eighth edition of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize was also announced on Thursday.

(Images by Avishek Mitra/IBNS)

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Close menu