India is neither Bangladesh nor France: Tharoor rejects protest comparisons

Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor has rejected comparisons between India and Bangladesh or France over opposition protests, saying the demand is for free and fair elections rather than an attempt to topple the government.

Responding to remarks by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Tharoor said India did not support violence and that protests should remain peaceful, according to news agency ANI.

"I think that India is not Bangladesh and India is not France. I don't see these analogies as particularly relevant," he said.

Tharoor said he would not condone violence, including the burning of buses and attacks on police stations reported in France, and stressed that he supported peaceful demonstrations.

"That's the kind of protest that I have participated in, and that I believe the opposition in general supports," he said.

Addressing the controversy over the opposition's use of the phrase "regime change", Tharoor said the demand was being misrepresented.
"As far as the larger issues are concerned, there's no point distorting a phrase like 'regime change' and so on. What we are calling for is free and fair elections," he said.

Tharoor alleged that large numbers of people had been removed from electoral rolls through what he described as a problematic, irregular and partly illegal Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.

He said the opposition was calling for the process to be reversed, arguing that the matter concerned constitutional rights rather than an attempt to bring down the government.

Tharoor also clarified that his criticism was directed at the functioning of institutions, not their existence.

His remarks came amid a political exchange over protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and opposition allegations of irregularities in the SIR of electoral rolls.