"Britain does owe reparations to India," the passionate words of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor reverberated off the red walls of the Oxford University debate chamber as he dug up the colonial past.
Tharoor's patriotic speech in favour of monetary reparations to India went viral online with over one million views on YouTube and garnered global attention, reviving a fresh debate over colonial reparations.
The former diplomat said that India had been governed for the benefit of imperial Britain and its rise for 200 years was financed by its depredations in colonial India. He added that "The Sun never set in the British empire because even God couldn't trust the English in the dark."
After being lauded by the online community, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday came forward to praise the Congress MP for his oratory speech.
"Shashi-ji is an orator who says the right thing at the right place... sometimes, such things become a turning point," NDTV quoted PM Modi as saying at the Speaker's Research Initiative for Parliamentarians.
The PM added that whatever Tharoor said at the speech was what any patriotic Indian citizen would have said and that his words are capable of strenghtening the pride and confidence of each and every Indian.
The lawmaker, who represents Thiruvananthapuram constituency of Kerala, later acknowledged Modi's praise for him on Twitter, stating that it was gracious of the PM.
Absolutely gracious of @narendramodi ji but yes, @INCIndia 's demands remain: Standards of integrity must be upheld https://t.co/dEcpMgetUo
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) July 23, 2015
This came just a day after Congress president Sonia Gandhi rebuked him for his outspokenness over the "uncalled-for agitation" by UPA-led Opposition in the Parliament during the Monsoon session.
Watch Shashi Tharoor's Oxford University Speech below:
