'India stands for rights of Palestinian people': Shashi Tharoor denounces Trump's idea to "take over" Gaza

By Rucha Pramanick
New Delhi [India], February 7 (ANI): Congress MP and former diplomat, Shashi Tharoor attended the Bharat Literature Festival at Pragati Maidan here in the national capital, where he talked about a myriad of topics, ranging from his latest book -- 'Wonderland of Words', to national politics amid the ongoing Parliament session to the latest development globally.

Reacting to US President Donald Trump's idea of the US "taking over" the Gaza Strip, the former Union Minister issued a strong condemnation and reiterated India's official position of achieving a two-state solution in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Trump, during a joint presser with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 4, made a bombshell announcement that the United States will take over the Gaza Strip, dismantle dangerous weapons, get rid of the destroyed buildings and work for economic development of the area.
Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of the book festival, Tharoor said, "India has a very clear position on this. We stand for the rights of the Palestinian people. We believe they have the right to their own state. We have been supporting the two-state solution for very long. And though we have good relations with Israel, that doesn't mean that Israel should deprive the Palestinian people of their human rights, so we would never support a plan to kick all the people of Gaza out of Gaza."
"These are places they've lived in for centuries. Their ancestors are buried there. How can you expect them to go because it's a concern for Israel to create other kinds of security arrangements for the people of Gaza, have a right to live in Gaza, to eventually have their own states in that part," he added.
Being asked about his views on Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeting the Congress party in his address in Parliament, Tharoor affirmed that all the political parties in India are essentially focused on the country's progress, and their difference arises only regarding the means to achieve the results.
PM Modi during his address in Rajya Sabha, said it would be a mistake to expect 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' from the Congress party.
"How can you say that?" Tharoor exclaimed. "Let's start off with the assumption that in our democracy, all parties are committed to a better India, to creating a better society, the well-being of the people. We all want 'sab ka sath, sab ka vikas'. We just disagree about the means of getting there. Start off with the assumption that there is no real difference ultimately what matters is how do we achieve that goal," he said.
Talking about the event, Tharoor reminisced about his previous visits to similar book fairs. He also encouraged people to visit book fairs and read books.

"It's an amazing thing. I mean, I've spoken at Pragati Maidan before, but this is amazing. The art festival is astonishingly well attended, huge crowds. The place is very well laid out, very well organised. I think we have a really remarkable festival on our hands in the nation's capital. It deserves to be better known, and I would encourage even more people to come next year. It's kind of something that's been around and it's very, very well done and it's open to the public and there are lots of people and there should be more all the bookshops, all the book publishers have their stalls here. It's very well, very beautifully done," he said.
In the same occasion, Tharoor spoke about his new book- 'Wonderland of Words'. In the book, he talks of 'Indianisms'- referring to English words or phrases used in India that are not common in other English-speaking countries. He gave an example of some commonly used Indianisms, like referring to a sibling as 'real brother', evoking laughter from the audience.
"Read my chapter on this, on Indianisms in Wonderland of Words. I actually defend Indianisms, but I also say we have to understand there are some kinds of usage which are ours and which we can celebrate and are acceptable, but there are some which are just wrong!" he said. (ANI)