After 'good Hindu-bad Hindu' remark Congress' Shashi Tharoor baits again with "build Ram in your heart" intangible

With Ram Mandir movement garing momentum, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said Hindu text condones use of violence to get one's way and scriptures say people should build Ram in ir hearts.

"In fact, if anything, re is a scripture that says build Ram in your heart. And if Ram is built in our heart it should little matter where else he is or he is t, because he is everywhere," Tharoor said in an exclusive interview to PTI.

Congress MP was responding to a question about his recent remark that good Hindu would want a temple at disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site.
Tharoor reiterated his point asking if a good Hindu would want to build a Ram Temple at expense of an act of violence.

"My only point is, would a Hindu have wanted to build such a precious place at expense of conducting an act of violence. A good Hindu is a law-abiding Hindu. A good Hindu is someone who has 'insaaniyat'," Congress leader asked.

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He went on to argue that while a good Hindu was also obviously somebody who worshipped and believed in his worship, Hindu scriptures do t allow use of violence to have one's way.

"A good Hindu is also obviously somebody who worships and believes in his worship. But where have we been told in our Hindu texts and our Hindu teachings which, in fact since days of Adi Shankaracharya, have emphasized much more on ahimsa. Where have we been told that we should conduct violence against or people to have our way," questioned Tharoor.

Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram also wondered what about his remarks had "shocked BJP so much".
He said, "Most good Hindus I kw would want a Ram Temple at place where y believe he was born. But most good Hindus would t have wanted it by demolishing or people's place of worship. And this is more or less what Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani also said." Congress leader quoted Advani as having called day of demolition of Babri Masjid as "saddest day of his life".

"Advani said he would have respectfully wanted to relocate site and Vajpayee had also hinted at all sorts of compromises provided Ram Temple could also be built, it could even be a joint wall between a mosque and a temple. Who kws what Vajpayee would have wanted? He is t here to tell us but , neir of m ever spoke in terms of demolishing mosque and when it happened y both condemned it. So what am I saying that is so shocking for BJP?" asked Tharoor.

On perception that majority Hindus want a Ram Temple at site where evidence also suggests that a temple existed, Tharoor said this was an academic argument.

"A temple really did exist. Wher it was Ram Temple we don't kw. Definitely re were pillars underneath. But given experiences of that period so many temples were destroyed and mosques built in ir places. I am t challenging historical veracity of this belief, that debate is over. That's totally academic w," said Congress MP.

Congress leader ackwledged that " important thing is that an overwhelming majority of Hindus particularly in rth India believe this was where Lord Ram was born and where re should be a Mandir", but went on to add, "to my mind arguing that point is academic."

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He n asked if a Hindu would ever want to build such a precious place, a temple, at expense of conducting an act of violence.

To a pointed query on wher he personally wanted a Ram Temple at stated site, Tharoor said, "I have said as much as I wanted to say."