New Delhi:
As the Congress showed Indira Gandhi’s leadership during the Bangladesh Liberation War to swipe with Pakistan in the Narendra Modi government yesterday, party leader Shashi Tharoor said that the circumstances are not the same in 1971 and 2025.
During a conversation with news agency ANI, the Congress MP was asked about the Congress’s social media campaign to perform Indira Gandhi after the government’s declaration of ceasefire. Without commenting directly on the campaign, Mr. Tharoor replied, “The fact that, in my mind, we reached a phase where the growth was unnecessarily out of control. Peace is necessary for us. The truth is that the circumstances of 1971 are not the circumstances of 2025. There are differences.”
#Watch Delhi | On reaching between Indian and Pakistan, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, “We reached a platform where the growth was unnecessarily out of control. Peace is necessary for us. The truth is that there are no circumstances of 1971 … pic.twitter.com/dowttnx1wj
– Year (@ani) May 11, 2025
He said that the people of India deserve peace. “We are very suffering, ask the people of Poonch, how many people have been killed. I am not saying that we should stop the wars. When they are due to continuing, we should continue. But it was not a war that we used to continue.
#Watch Delhi | “1971 was a major achievement, Indira Gandhi wrote the map of the subcontinent again, but the circumstances were different. Bangladesh was fighting for a moral reason, and it was a clear objective to free Bangladesh. It is not one to keep on shell firing shells in Pakistan … pic.twitter.com/tr3jwas9ez
– Year (@ani) May 11, 2025
He said that he is sure that the government would try to track the terrorists involved in the Pahgam terror attack, claiming 26 innocent lives. He said, “This is unavoidable. It may not be overnight, it may take months, years, but we have to do so. No one should be allowed to go away with innocent Indian citizens. But this does not mean that we should put the entire country at risk in war for a long time.”
“As far as this special conflict with Pakistan was concerned, there was no reason to put more life, limbs and fate at risk. We need to focus on the prosperity and welfare of Indian people on development, development and progress. I think peace is the right way to go to this level,” said Mr. Tharoor.
The Congress leader said that the 1971 victory was a “big achievement” that takes him pride as an Indian. “Indira Gandhiji wrote the map of the subcontinent again. But the circumstances were different. Today’s Pakistan is a different situation. Their equipment, military equipment, they can do harm, everything is different,” he said.
In Bangladesh Liberation War, he said, India was fighting for a moral reason to bring people into freedom. “This is a different story. We must have ended with a lot of long struggle on both sides with great loss of life. Is this the biggest priority for India today? No, it is not. We wanted to teach people who sent these terrorists that there is a price to pay,” he said. “India did not, I believe, see the May 7 action at any level as a long, long struggle. If Pakistan did not move forward, we did not move forward. Pakistan did it, we did so. It was on a point, it was on a point, we were a clearly a clearly a clearly a clear war without a clear war. There is no clear purpose in Pakistan.
Shortly after the news of the ceasefire, the Congress leaders shared pictures of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, including the party’s official handle, who led the country to win in the 1971 war. The posts were seen as a swipe in Prime Minister Modi over the ceasefire. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia replied whether the Congress did not remember former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and questioned what action the then UPA government took after 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.
Jairam Ramesh, the head of the Congress, demanded an all-party meeting headed by the Prime Minister to discuss the ceasefire treaty. He also questioned the mention of the “neutral site” of US State Secretary Marco Rubio and asked if the government had opened the doors for mediation of third party in the Kashmir issue.
“Finally, the Indian National Congress believes that it is natural for the country to remember Indira Gandhi for her extraordinary courageous and firm leadership in 1971,” he said.
