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Shashi Tharoor condemns Assam minister's controversial 'Gobi farming' post

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Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor (File photo)

New Delhi: As Assam minister Ashok Singhal's "Bihar approves Gobi farming" remark sparked a row with opposition leaders alleging it was "glorifying" the killing of Muslims in Bhagalpur in 1989, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday condemned the social media post, saying neither the Hindu faith nor nationalism justifies or condones such massacres, let alone applauds them.

"Bihar approves Gobi farming," Singhal had posted on X on Friday with an image of a cauliflower field after the NDA win in assembly polls.

What is the significance of 'Gobi farming' in Bihar?

It evoked a strong response from many online who said the cauliflower image was an apparent reference to the 1989 Bhagalpur violence in Bihar, in which many Muslims were killed and buried in farmland where cauliflower saplings were later planted to conceal the bodies.

An X user replied to Singhal's post, saying that a cabinet minister, no less, is "glorifying the massacre of 116 Muslims to celebrate an election victory".

He tagged Tharoor and asked if the senior Congress leader could get a few influential Hindu leaders to condemn this "normalisation of one of the worst pogroms perpetuated against Bihari Muslims".

Responding to the post, Tharoor said, "I'm not a community organiser, so joint statements are not my job. But as a passionate advocate of #InclusiveIndia and a proud Hindu, I can speak for myself, and for most Hindus I know, in saying that neither our faith nor our nationalism requires, justifies or condones such massacres, let alone applauds them."

When another user said that he did not condemn the post, Tharoor responded, "That's exactly what I did! I condemned it." 

On Saturday, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi had said the use of "gobi farming" imagery by a sitting Cabinet Minister of Assam in the wake of the Bihar election results marks a shocking new low in political discourse.

"It is both vulgar and shameful. The image is widely associated with the Logain massacre of 1989, where 116 Muslims were killed and their bodies concealed under cauliflower plantations during the Bhagalpur violence," Gogoi said.

To invoke such a tragedy in this manner shows how far some are willing to descend in public life, he said.

"This mindset is promoted by his boss Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The Chief Minister has a hatred for Indian minorities. This is not what Assam is. Assam is the land of Mahapurush Sankardev, Lachit Borphukan and Azaan Pir. And next year the people of Assam will end the rule of hate and greed," he said.

TMC MP Saket Gokhale also slammed the post.

"'Gobi farming' refers to glorifying the mass killing of Muslims in Bhagalpur, Bihar, in 1989. A cauliflower farm was planted on the graves to hide evidence. This is Modi's BJP Minister from Assam. Not some fringe element," he said on Saturday.

"Clearly, @PMOIndia approves this. The world should know," the TMC leader said on X.