Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): The Congress-led UDF's candidate for Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, Shashi Tharoor said that denying holiday on Easter in Manipur is "unfair", "surprising" and "worrying". He urged the Centre to intervene and make Manipur government withdraw its decision.
"Every religious group's holidays should be respected. This decision is deeply surprising and worrying. It has come in the aftermath of a devastating year in Manipur that witnessed violence, hardship and killings. The need should be to keep things calm and let one section of the community feel they have not been discriminated against. Now to take a decision, however practical the justification may be, that hurts the sentiments of around 40 percent of the population of Manipur is of grave concern. Government of India should intervene and get this decision withdrawn," Tharoor said.
Asserting that the decision of Manipur government will be dangerous for the country, Tharoor said that the message that is being given to other states is that beliefs of the people are not valued here. This is an unacceptable decision, he said adding it's not just his personal opinion but his party's stand on the issue.
Tharoor also alleged that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is raising baseless allegations on the CAA issue. "It is an attempt to canvas the votes of a community. It was the Congress that had the courage to oppose the bill when it was introduced," Tharoor said while asking the Chief Minister to furnish evidence to back his allegations.
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