Kolkata court summons Tharoor over 'Hindu-Pakistan' remark

Kolkata (West Bengal): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor was on Saturday summoned by a Kolkata Court over his controversial 'Hindu-Pakistan' remark.

Kolkata-based advocate Sumeet Chowdhury, in his petition, said that Tharoor's comments had hurt religious sentiments of the countrymen, insulted the Constitution and that they were intended to create great conflict and disharmony based on the religious divide.

A case has been filed under Section 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 2 of The Prevention Of Insults To National Honour Act, 1971.

Tharoor has been asked to present before the court on August 14.

On Thursday, Tharoor had stated that if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wins the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it will create a condition leading to the formation of a 'Hindu Pakistan'.

Addressing an event in Thiruvananthapuram, Tharoor had said, "If they (BJP) win a repeat in the Lok Sabha our democratic constitution as we understand it will not survive as they will have all the elements they need to tear apart the constitution of India and write a new one. That new one will be the one which will enshrine principles of Hindu Rashtra, that will remove equality for minorities, that'll create a Hindu Pakistan."

Tharoor's statement drew flak from various political quarters, with the BJP demanding an apology from the Congress president Rahul Gandhi.