Aap Ki Adalat: Congress leader and Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor, who appeared on India TV's most iconic show-- Aap Ki Adalat, spoke extensively about his relations with his wife Sunanda Pushkar, who died "mysteriously" in a hotel in 2014. Tharoor, while responding to questions from India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma, described the death of his "beloved" wife as "traumatic" as he had to run from pillar to post in order to prove his innocence.
Notably, Pushkar, a prominent face in Delhi circles, was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel on the night of January 17, 2014. The couple had been staying in the hotel as Tharoor's official bungalow was being renovated at the time. Initially, Tharoor was charged under the provisions of the IPC related to cruelty and abetment to suicide but was not arrested in the case. Later, he was exonerated from all charges, including abetment to suicide, by a Delhi trial court in 2021.
"I never speak personally about politicians, but I have two or three persons in mind, whom I will never forgive. They knew it was a lie, and yet they continued telling lies. It's not possible to forgive," Tharoor told India TV.
"It was a relationship of love": Tharoor
Meanwhile, elaborating on his relationship with Pushkar, he said: "It was a relationship of love. Naturally. Look at the arrangement, between a Kashmiri Pandit and a Keralite. We married after falling in love, but some people tried to make political use of her death. I had to go to court for many years, and at last, the judge threw out the case saying "It is all 'bakwas', there is no evidence of suicide, no evidence of murder. The judge discharged me saying there is no case at all. The case must end."
Shashi Tharoor said: "Imagine how one would feel. Those who know me personally, know I cannot attack anybody. I never raised my hand even to a child. Her two brothers, and the only son, were all with me and told me, we know it can't happen. But outsiders, who never knew us, found a political opportunity. In the early stages of our politics, such attacks or remarks against anybody's personal life were never considered appropriate. Nobody used to comment on other politician's private life. So many people knew about Vajpayee Saheb's private life. They used to talk among themselves but never used the media. But I think, nowadays our culture has changed, and that too, for the worse."
Pushkar was mentally ill: Tharoor
On his reported differences with Sunanda Pushkar before her death, Tharoor said, "If you read her tweets, you will know, it was not so. She had some mental issues. One day, she used to write a loving tweet and the next day, something else. She was never a bad girl, she was mentally ill. (Woh bilkul bhi buri ladki nahin thi, beemar ladki thi.) One should have some sympathy for her. I said in Parliament, when the bill relating to mental health was brought, that you can offer sympathy to a person who has a broken leg, but there is no sympathy to a person who has a mental breakdown. This is very sad."
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Watch full interview here:
