New Delhi: The Congress has distanced itself from party legislator Shashi Tharoor's remarks praising one of the key architects of the movement to demolish the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992, L.K. Advani.

Tharoor had posted birthday greetings to the Bharatiya Janata Party veteran and shared an old photo of him with Advani.

Tharoor claimed in his post that Advani's “unwavering commitment to public service, his modesty [and] decency, and his role in shaping the trajectory of modern India are indelible".

Tharoor went on to describe Advani as “a true statesman” and said that his “life of service has been exemplary”.

In 1990, Advani who was by then the BJP's party president, launched his infamous Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya, to stir up support for the demand for the construction of a Ram temple at the spot where the mosque stood. The violence that accompanied Advani's much-publicised Yatra and the incendiary speech he gave in December 1992 before the mosque was demolished are well documented. Now, following a Supreme Court verdict that held the destruction illegal but gave the land to the temple trust, there now stands a temple in the place where the mosque stood. The BJP, which established this communal issue as its priority, is now in power and similar efforts to remove mosques are afoot countrywide.

Lawyer Sanjay Hegde wrote in reply to Tharoor, "Sorry Mr Tharoor, unleashing the "dragon seeds of hatred" (to quote Kushwant Singh) in this country is NOT public service."

But Tharoor wrote back: “Reducing his long years of service to one episode, however significant, is also unfair." He then drew parallels to Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, both former prime ministers. "The totality of Nehruji’s career cannot be judged by the China setback, nor Indira Gandhi’s by the Emergency alone. I believe we should extend the same courtesy to Advaniji," he said.

Tharoor's support of Advani was criticised on X.

Hegde, for one, responded:

"The Rath Yatra was not an episode. It was a long march to reverse the foundational principles of the Indian Republic. It set the stage for 2002 and 2014 and thereafter. Like Draupadi's dishonour set the stage for the Mahabharata that followed, the Rathyatra and it's legacy of violence continue to haunt the destiny of this country. From his current bed of arrows, he has not preached any Rajdharma either."

Historian S. Irfan Habib wrote:

"I am sorry and disagree with you here. Both China setback and emergency are behind us and have learnt lessons from those mistakes. However, the divisive politics unleashed by Mr. Advani continues to grow and the consequences are there for all to see, only if want to see of course."

Activist and writer Nandini K. Oza wrote:

"In 1990, When Advani began his Rath Yatra, I was young with dreams of a secular India. The yatra culminated into demolition of Babri Masjid, hatred, social devision & broke the very back of secular India. I am a senior citizen now and my dreams remain shattered ever since."

All India Congress Committee (AICC) Working Committee member and chairman of Media and Publicity department, Pawan Khera, meanwhile said that while the party dissociates itself from Tharoor's statements, that fact that he can make such statements as a member of the party's working committee and an MP is a mark of the party's liberal spirit.

“Like always, Dr Shashi Tharoor speaks for himself, and the Indian National Congress outrightly dissociates itself from his most recent statement. That he continues to do so as a Congress MP and CWC member reflects the essential democratic and liberal spirit unique to INC,” Pawan Khera wrote on X.

Today, to a detailed post attempting to essay the number of deaths caused by Advani's actions by a Congress media coordinator in Assam, Tharoor wrote that he was aware of Advani's legacy and pointed to his own work:

"This is a much longer conversation — but just to tell you I am fully aware of the events, let me draw your attention to my book “Riot”, published in 2001, which was about one such riot that occurred during the Ram Shila Pujan events of 1989."

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