‘Everyone should embrace this symbol……,’ Shashi Tharoor differs over party’s stand on ‘Sengol’

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday, presented a stand on the contrary to his party on the issue of ‘Sengol’ and said that everyone should embrace this symbol from the past to affirm the values of the present.

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi installed the historic ‘Sengol’ in the Lok Sabha chamber while dedicating the new Parliament building to the nation.

Tharoor affirmed the government’s argument that ‘Sengol’ reflects a continuity of tradition, however, he also called the argument of Opposition righteous, that the Constitution was adopted in the name of the people.

Taking to Twitter, Tharoor said, “My own view on the Sengol controversy is that both sides have good arguments. The government rightly argues that the sceptre reflects a continuity of tradition by embodying sanctified sovereignty and the rule of dharma. The Opposition rightly argues that the Constitution was adopted in the name of the people and that sovereignty abides in the people of India as represented in their Parliament. It is not a kingly privilege handed down by divine right”.

“The two positions are reconcilable if one simply drops the debatable red herring about the sceptre having been handed to Nehru by Mountbatten to symbolise the transfer of power, a story for which there is no proof. Instead, we should simply say that the sengol, sceptre is a traditional symbol of power and authority, and by placing it in the Lok Sabha, India is affirming that sovereignty resides there and not with any monarch,” he added.

Notably, Tharoor’s stand is quite different from what other party leaders have taken on the issue of ‘Sengol’.

Especially, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had come out hard against the Centre accusing it of spreading “false narratives”.
“Is it any surprise that the new Parliament is being consecrated with typically false narratives from the WhatsApp University? The BJP/RSS Distorians stand exposed yet again with Maximum Claims, Minimum Evidence,” Ramesh said on Twitter on Friday.

The Congress General Secretary in charge of Communications claimed that there is “no documented evidence” of the ‘Sengol’ being described as a symbol of the transfer of power from the British and called the claims made by the BJP “bogus”.

“A majestic sceptre conceived of by a religious establishment in then Madras province and crafted in Madras city was indeed presented to Nehru in August 1947. There is NO documented evidence whatsoever of Mountbatten, Rajaji & Nehru describing this sceptre as a symbol of transfer of British power to India. All claims to this effect are plain and simple — BOGUS. Wholly and completely manufactured in the minds of a few and dispersed into WhatsApp, and now to the drum-beaters in the media. Two of the finest Rajaji scholars with impeccable credentials have expressed surprise,” he said on Twitter.

Jairam Ramesh added, “The sceptre was later kept for display at the Allahabad Museum. What Nehru said there on December 14, 1947, is a matter of public record despite whatever labels may say. The sceptre is now being used by the PM and his drum-beaters for their political ends in Tamil Nadu. This is typical of this brigade that embroiders facts to suit its twisted objectives. The real question is why is President Droupadi Murmu not being allowed to inaugurate the new Parliament?” (ANI)