Caught in a stream of media reports which indirectly suggest his involvement in the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar, Indian union minister Shashi Tharoor has written to the Ministry of Home Affairs, offering his full support in the investigations.
Tharoor, the former UN under secretary, addressed the letter to Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, stating he was "horrified" to read the "reckless speculation" rampant in the media over his wife's death.
“In the midst of my mourning, I have finally had a chance to catch up with the media reports and am horrified to read the reckless speculation rampant there. I am appealing to you to issue instructions to the relevant authorities to expedite their investigation and come to a rapid conclusion so that the truth emerges at the earliest,” Shashi Tharoor stressed in the letter to Home Minister Shinde.
“I pledge full and unstinting cooperation. Nothing short of the truth will end the indignity to which my wife and I are being subject at a time when all I seek is to be allowed to grieve in private with my near and dear ones,” he added.
Sunanda, 52, was found dead in a hotel in New Delhi on Friday, a day after she accused Tharoor of being unfaithful, via Twitter.
The mysterious death of Sunanda took place within 24 hours after she and her husband were caught up in a Twitter controversy, also involving Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar.
Sunanda and Mehr had got into an ugly spat on Twitter, after Sunanda publicly accused Mehr of "stalking" her husband and trying to "break" her marriage. However, following this, both Tharoor and Sunanda came out with a joint statement, claiming they were "happily married" but were distressed by "some unauthorized tweets".
Tharoor, since the time he entered the Indian politics, has been marred with controversies. In March 2009, Tharoor contested the Indian general elections as the Congress party candidate from Thiruvananthapuram (Lok Sabha constituency) in Kerala and - against all odds - went on to win by a margin of about 100,000 votes.
In May 2009, he was sworn in as the Minister of State for External Affairs. However, time and again life on Twitter has proved difficult for Tharoor as his remarks on the social media were often taken up the press and heavily critized.
In April 2010, Tharoor had to step down as the Minister of State following allegations that he had misused his office, in order to get shares in an IPL cricket franchise based in Cochin. The franchise was owned by a company that at that time was led by Sunanda, who following the controversy married Tharoor.
