Our sovereignty so strong that can't be affected by mere film: Cong MP Tharoor reacts on Antony's concerns

Reacting to the concerns flagged on BBC documentary series on PM Modi by Congress leader AK Antony's son Anil Antony-- post his resignation from the party-- Thiruvananathapuram MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said that India's sovereignty is not so fragile to be affected by a mere film and that it could've been ignored.

Reacting to the concerns flagged on BBC documentary series on PM Modi by Congress leader AK Antony's son Anil Antony-- post his resignation from the party-- Thiruvananathapuram MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said that India's sovereignty is not so fragile to be affected by a mere film and that it could've been ignored. "I don't think that our sovereignty is that fragile that it will be affected by a film, [telecasted] on a foreign television channel," Shashi Tharoor told reporters here.

"To my mind, both the arguments made [by Antony] on the government's side, first, it will affect India's sovereignty and second that it will affect national security, are very strange things to say because they give the impression that not only India is very thin-skinned but India's sovereignty and national security are very weak that they could be affected by a mere film," he said, adding that we're a strong country, we could've ignored this. Earlier in the day, Anil K Antony, the son of former Union Minister A K Anthony on Wednesday announced his resignation from the party, a day after he criticized the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"This is my personal decision and I do think this is the best course of action. I did not discuss it with my father. I've sent my resignation and I hope that the leadership will accept it. I don't think this Congress has space for me," Antony said. He alleged that he had received threat calls and hate messages "through the night"."A lot of things that happened in the last 24 hours, especially from certain corners of Congress, have hurt me a lot," Anthony told ANI.

Reiterating his support towards the government's stand over the documentary, Anil Antony said, "I do oppose the BJP in many things, I have been opposing it throughout my life, However when it comes to certain things, especially what concerns our core national interests, our sovereignty, our security our strategic interest, I do think that we shouldn't be playing with fire. Because this is compromising a lot of things for which there will be a lot of ramifications." Reacting to the news of his resignation from the Congress party, Shashi Tharoor told the reporters that he was caught unaware.

"I have not spoken with Anil, he is somebody I have good regard for, and he is a bright young man. I hope very constructive ideas don't mean we have to agree on everything all the time. On this particular issue, I would not agree that our sovereignties are so easily affected. But as far as his resignation is concerned, he has not discussed it with me. I think he is perfectly capable of speaking for himself," Thiruvananthapuram parliamentarian said. Meanwhile, Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of CPM, the Students Fedration of India (SFI) and the Congress screened the documentary 'India: the Modi Question' at various places in Kerala yesterday.

Speaking on the decision by several organizations to screen the documentary in Kerala, Tharoor said it is something that emerged after the Centre's censorship. "I think the screening in Kerala of the documentary by certain youth organizations of political parties is very much in reaction to the attempts to censor it. The BBC has very small audiences in India so it would not have had half the echoes and resonance in our Country. But the government chose to ban it and remove all links from social media. So I think what the youth organizations are doing is in defiance of the censorship," Tharoor added. (ANI)

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