NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday hit back at “zealots” within his party after facing criticism over his reported remarks that India crossed the Line of Control (LoC) for the first time during the 2016 surgical strike on a terror base. Tharoor, who is leading one of the 7 multi-party delegations to expose Pakistan post Pahalgam terror attack, clarified that his comments specifically addressed reprisals for terrorist attacks, not previous wars. “After a long and successful day in Panama, I have to wind up at midnight here with departure for Bogota, Colombia in six hours, so I don’t really have time for this — but anyway: For those zealots fulminating about my supposed ignorance of Indian valour across the LoC: in the past,” Tharoor said in a post on X.“I was clearly and explicitly speaking only about reprisals for terrorist attacks and not about previous wars and my remarks were preceded by a reference to the several attacks that have taken place in recent years alone, during which previous Indian responses were both restrained and constrained by our responsible respect for the LoC and the IB,” he added.The controversy erupted after Tharoor reportedly stated in Panama that India breached the LoC “for the first time” during the 2016 surgical strike. This prompted a sharp response from his party colleague Udit Raj, who accused Tharoor of denigrating Congress’s legacy. “How could you denigrate the golden history of Congress by saying that before PM Modi, India never crossed LoC and International border?” Raj questioned.“In 1965 Indian Army entered Pakistan at multiple points, which completely surprised the Pakistanis in the Lahore sector. In 1971, India tore Pakistan in two pieces and during UPA government several surgical strikes were unleashed but drum beating was not done to encash (it) politically,” he said.This isn’t the first clash between the two Congress leaders. Last month, Raj criticized Tharoor’s comments about intelligence failures following the Pahalgam attack, accusing him of acting as BJP’s lawyer. The Thiruvananthapuram MP retorted by pointing out Raj’s BJP background, saying he “is better qualified to understand who speaks for the BJP.”Tharoor’s recent statements on India-Pakistan relations have notably diverged from the Congress party’s official position, particularly regarding the government’s handling of US President Trump’s claims about mediating a ceasefire between the two nations.
