Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said, "There is a disappointing development at the India Summit: 115 out of 315 speakers have been denied entry to India or their visas have been cancelled.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor

Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor has criticized the central government for cancelling the visas of guests attending the Congress-organized Bharat Summit. He said, "When I reached Hyderabad, I learned that the Ministry of External Affairs had either denied entry into India or cancelled the visas of 115 of the 315 speakers attending the event."

In his X post, he said, "This appears to have been done on the instructions of the Home Ministry. It's unclear under which legal provision the government has taken such drastic action, but it's now impossible to reverse it, as the convention ends tomorrow. What a shame that a proud democracy has become so insecure that it has to suppress voices it fears criticizing."

The culture of dialogue in India

Responding to the reaction of those in power to his post, Shashi posted another post saying, "I'm a little surprised by the sharp and aggressive comments on my tweet about not getting a visa for the India Summit. Why is it so difficult for these so-called supporters of Hindutva to understand that Hindu civilization is built on the idea of ​​dialogue? Our ancestral tradition teaches us to fully understand and reiterate the arguments of the other side so that we can effectively refute them."

Dissent is also a part of democracy.

He lamented, "If we reject the fundamental principle that 'I may disagree with you, but I will always defend your right to say it,' what kind of political culture will we develop?"