‘A story which has no proof…’: Shashi Tharoor on ‘Sengol row’

“Both sides have good arguments,” said Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor on his official Twitter handle on Sunday, after PM Modi inaugurated the new Parliament House today.

He said, “The government rightly argues that the sceptre reflects a continuity of tradition by embodying sanctified sovereignty & the rule of dharma.”

“The Opposition rightly argues that the Constitution was adopted in the name of the people & that sovereignty abides in the people of India as represented in their Parliament, and is not a kingly privilege handed down by divine right,” Tharoor stated.

The senior Congress leader asserted that the “two positions are reconcilable if one simply drops the debatable red herring about the sceptre having been handed to Nehru by Mountbatten to symbolize the transfer of power, a story for which there is no proof”.

“Instead we should simply say that the sengol sceptre is a traditional symbol of power & authority, and by placing it in the Lok Sabha, India is affirming that sovereignty resides there & not with any monarch,” he suggested.

“Let us embrace this symbol from the past to affirm the values of our present,” Shashi Tharoor added.

PM Modi placed the historic ‘Sengol’ near the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chair in the newly built Parliament building. The ‘Sengol’ holds great significance as a symbol of power and authority, reminiscent of its use in ancient South Indian kingdoms.

The Adheenam of Tamil Nadu presented the ‘Sengol’ to Jawaharlal Nehru in August 1947, symbolizing the transfer of power from the British to the Indian people.

Previously housed in the Nehru Gallery of the Allahabad Museum, the ‘Sengol’ has now been transported to Delhi for its installation in the newly constructed Parliament building.

The head priest of Madurai Adheenam (mutt) presented the same sceptre to PM Narendra Modi. In Tamil, the term ‘Aadeenam’ encompasses both a Shaivite monastery and the leader of the Shaivite math.

Updated: 28 May 2023, 01:55 PM IST