Q&A With Shashi Tharoor: England Owes Us More Than The Kohinoor
Shashi Tharoor took questions about his recent speech on British reparations to India. It was lively & provocative.
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Shashi Tharoor’s recent speech at Oxford University set both the Thames and the Ganga on fire. It’s got him several cheers back home, and even prompted UK’s Labour Party leader of Indian origin, Keith Vaz to suggest that the Kohinoor be returned to India.
Since the MP from Thiruvananthapuram has such a knack for attracting popular attention, it’s suited us at The Quint perfectly to provide a platform for people to ask him their questions, on what we call, the Kohinoor Syndrome.
For starters, a question on how the mighty language ‘English’ had an effect on India, just had, to be asked.
A lot of ‘what if’ questions were asked, especially the big one – what if the British hadn’t come at all?
A few skeptical questions were thrown at Tharoor as well.
The idea of ‘reparations’ was broadened by a few people. Tharoor was quick to concede that India’s elite too, had ‘reparations’ to make to those they had ruled for centuries.
Shashi Tharoor also found that the questions were intelligent, thoughtful and provocative.
What better purpose can a debate serve than make people think?
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)