Shashi Tharoor summoned by Kolkata court over his "Hindu-Pakistan" comment against BJP

The court has asked him to appear on August 14.

image courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: Two days after his “Hindu-Pakistan” comment, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor was on Saturday summoned by Kolkata court. This comes after Advocate Sumeet Chowdhary filed a case against him alleging Tharoor’s comments had hurt religious sentiments. The lawyer also claimed that Tharoor had insulted the constitution via his comment.  The court has asked him to appear on August 14. Taking on Bharatiya Janta Party, Tharoor had said that if BJP wins 2019 general elections, then the country would turn into “Hindu Pakistan”. After drawing flak for the comment, the MP didn’t relent and reiterated his previous statement via post on his Facebook. “I have said this before and I will say it again. Pakistan was created as a state with a dominant religion that discriminates against its minorities and denies them equal rights. India never accepted the logic that had partitioned the country. But the BJP/RSS idea of a Hindu Rashtra is the mirror image of Pakistan -- a state with a dominant majority religion that seeks to put its minorities in a subordinate place. That would be a Hindu Pakistan, and it is not what our freedom movement fought for, nor the idea of India enshrined in our Constitution” he said. “Many proud Hindus like myself cherish the inclusive nature of our faith and have no desire to live, as our Pakistani neighbours are forced to, in an intolerant theocratic state. We want to preserve India and not turn our beloved country into a Hindu version of Pakistan” he added.