Shashi Tharoor on Musharraf after the row: “If BJP Wants To Attack Vajpayee…”

The BJP harshly criticized Shashi Tharoor’s tweet, with Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar declaring that it “perfectly reflects the Congress.”

In response to the BJP’s jab on his condolence message for Pakistan’s former military dictator Pervez Musharraf, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor claimed on Monday that the BJP was criticizing its “own PM.”

The Congress MP stated, in a Monday interview with ANI, “Why the BJP wants to criticize its own Prime Minister (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) for his policies is beyond me. After Musharraf’s passing, I thought back to how they (Vajpayee and Musharraf) had been sworn opponents who then spent four years trying to make peace. I’ll let the BJP choose whether or not to criticize Vajpayee. We would be impolite to Vajpayee, “Mr. Shashi Tharoor added.

Following criticism from the BJP over an earlier tweet in which he referred to the former military ruler—widely regarded as the architect of the Kargil conflict of 1999—as a “genuine force for peace,” Mr. Shashi Tharoor issued a clarification.

“Kargil was caused by Musharraf, an utterly unforgiving opponent of ours. It was, however, a different story after 2002. Pakistan and the BJP government of PM Vajpayee worked out a cease-fire. Musharraf and Vajpayee exchanged a handshake after making a joint statement “Mr. Tharoor remarked.

If Pervez Musharraf was “anathema to all patriotic Indians,” why did the BJP negotiate a cease-fire and sign a joint declaration with him? stated Mr. Shashi Tharoor.

“Why did the BJP administration negotiate a ceasefire with Musharraf in 2003 and sign the joint Vajpayee-Musharraf declaration in 2004 if he was anathema to all patriotic Indians, I ask the BJP leaders who are screaming at the mouth? Then, was he not seen as a reliable peace partner?” Shashi Tharoor posted a tweet.

“I grew up in an India where it is customary to speak well of the deceased. Although Musharraf was an unforgiving foe and the man behind Kargil, he did work for peace with India from 2002 to 2007 since it served his own interests. Although he was not a friend, he saw the strategic value of peace, just as we did “Mr. Tharoor had previously tweeted.

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“Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf dies of a rare disease; he was once India’s most ferocious adversary but transformed into a genuine champion for peace between 2002 and 2007. At the UN, where I saw him yearly, I found him to be knowledgeable, interesting, and strategic in his thinking. RIP, “In a tweet, Mr. Tharoor expressed his condolences to the former military government of Pakistan.

The BJP harshly criticized Mr. Tharoor’s tweet, with Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar claiming that it “perfectly defines the Congress.”

“Nothing turns Fatcat Pak Dictator Generals into “forces for peace” and fosters “clear strategic thinking” like a good military beating. Despite the numerous lives lost, international laws were broken, and harm made everywhere, these generals will continue to have admiring admirers in India “Tweeted Mr. Chandrasekhar.

“That a former Cong Foreign Min (a party that refused to celebrate Kargil Vijay Diwas until 2010) wud think that a Pak General who inflicted terror, a backstabbing conflict, and tortured our Soldiers in violation of every International Law, wud be a force for peace — best describes Cong,” Mr. Chandrasekhar wrote in another tweet.

After a protracted illness, Musharraf passed away on Sunday at a hospital in the UAE, according to Daily Pakistan.

During the Kargil War, Musharraf oversaw the Pakistani army.