Congress MP Shashi Tharoor denounces Assam minister’s post linked to 1989 Bhagalpur killings

Shashi Tharoor has sharply criticised Assam minister Ashok Singhal for a social media post that appeared to reference the 1989 Bhagalpur violence, calling it a disturbing attempt to trivialise a massacre.

The Congress MP said the message shared by Singhal — “Bihar approves Gobi farming” alongside a photo of a cauliflower field — had no place in civil political discourse. “Neither our faith nor our nationalism requires, justifies or condones such massacres, let alone applauds them,” Tharoor said, responding to an X user who flagged the post and sought condemnation from influential Hindu leaders.

Tharoor added that he did, in fact, denounce the remark. “That’s exactly what I did! I condemned it,” he wrote after another user accused him of avoiding a clear stand.

The original post by Singhal circulated widely after the NDA’s victory in the Bihar assembly polls. Critics argued the cauliflower image alluded to the Logain massacre, where Muslims killed during the Bhagalpur riots were buried in farmland later planted with cauliflower to conceal the bodies.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said the minister’s choice of imagery represented “a shocking new low” and described it as “both vulgar and shameful”. He added that invoking such a tragedy “shows how far some are willing to descend in public life”, accusing the Assam government’s leadership of encouraging such rhetoric.

TMC MP Saket Gokhale also condemned the message, saying, “‘Gobi farming’ refers to glorifying the mass killing of Muslims in Bhagalpur.” He argued that the comment could not be dismissed as fringe behaviour, noting that it came from a serving state minister.

Opposition leaders have demanded accountability, while the post remains under scrutiny for what many see as a celebration of a grim chapter in India’s recent history. (With inputs from PTI)