Shashi Tharoor defends ‘good Hindu’ remark after BJP, RSS slam him, says words distorted by media

New Delhi, Oct 15: Facing backlash from the BJP over his comment on the Ram Temple, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor took to Twitter on Monday to say that his comments had been distorted by "some media in service of political masters".

He tweeted: "I condemn the malicious distortion of my words by some media in the service of political masters. I said: 'most Hindus would want a temple at what they believe to be Ram's birthplace. But no good Hindu would want it to be built by destroying another's place of worship'". "I was asked for my personal opinion at a literary festival and gave it as such. I am not a Spokesperson for my party and did not claim to be speaking for Congress," he said.

Tharoor has kicked up a row by saying that no "good" Hindu would favour a Ram temple in Ayodhya by demolishing somebody else's place of worship.

His remarks drew stinging criticism from the BJP which dubbed his party and its chief Rahul Gandhi "anti-Hindu".

Meanwhile, the Congress on Monday distanced itself from its leader Shashi Tharoor's remarks that no good Hindu would want the Ram Temple in Ayodhya by destroying somebody else's place of worship, saying he made them in his "personal capacity".

Tharoor, who is Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, made the controversial comments at an event in Chennai on Sunday.
"As a Hindu, obviously, I am conscious that a vast majority of my fellow Hindus believe that that was the specific birthplace of Ram. "For this reason, most good Hindus would want to see a Ram temple at the site where Ram was supposed to be born. But I also believe that no good Hindu would have wanted that a temple be built by demolishing somebody else's place of worship," he said.

(With PTI inputs)