Morung Express News
Dimapur | August 7
The Nagaland state unit of the BJP today staged a protest rally here at the party office to express resentment against the statement made by Congress MP, Shashi Tharoor, who reportedly called traditional Naga headgear as “outlandish and hilarious.”
The remark was made while Tharoor critiqued the Prime Minister for refusing to wear a Muslim skull cap. Terming Tharoor’s statement as “an insult to the tribal peoples, especially the Nagas”, State BJP general secretary, K James Vizo said that “our identity and culture should be protected at all cost”. He further accused the Congress of playing “divisive politics.”
The party’s vice president, Dr. Sukhato said the Congress MP’s labelling of Naga headgear as “outlandish” was shocking as Nagas are not foreigners or aliens.
BJP workers meanwhile burnt an effigy of the Congress MP and chanted slogan against him. The party unit’s media cell in a press release said that the Congress MP’s “disdain and insolence shown towards the attires of the Nagas have crossed all limits” and demanded an “outright apology.”
“In his overzealous hate for the PM and BJP, Tharoor doesn’t mind insulting the rich heritage and culture of the Nagas. His attitude unmasks the Congress party’s often claims of being the party for the downtrodden minorities and tribals. By commenting on the PM Modi refusal to wear certain type of caps, he showcases his own double-standards by choosing not to comment in an event where his own party president Rahul Gandhi refused to wear the traditional headgear of one South Indian state," the State BJP said.
BJP ignored bigger issue raised by Tharoor: NPCC
The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) while disapproving Tharoor’s fleeting reference to Naga headgear, however, questioned the BJP’s ignorance against the “bigger issue raised by Tharoor against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
“The concern shown by BJP ministers and central leaders, followed by our CM and some of his cabinet colleagues in trying to extract maximum political mileage is understandable but equal concern should be shown to the plight of the Nagas reeling under miserable existence owing to 16 years of misrule perpetrated by the same set of leaders,” a release from the party pointed out.
“The hyper activism of BJP and their paid cohorts will not wash away the sins of the state government that is fully responsible for the current state of crumbling infrastructure and a myriad of socio-economic problems in which there seems to be no permanent solution but a knee jerk reaction to every situation at hand," it said.
