On Wednesday, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor made it clear that he would not accept the “Veer Savarkar Award,” nor would he attend any event where the award would be presented, due to a lack of clarification about the event’s nature and the organization behind it. Tharoor, representing Thiruvananthapuram, criticized the organizers for announcing his name as a recipient without his prior consent.
“I will not be accepting the Veer Savarkar Award, nor will I be attending the event where it will be presented”- Shashi Tharoor.
Tharoor said, emphasizing that the announcement had been made without his agreement. He further stated that it was “irresponsible” for the organizers to publicly announce his name as a recipient without his confirmation.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader K Muraleedharan had expressed concerns about any party member, including Tharoor, accepting an award named after Veer Savarkar, given the latter’s controversial history. Muraleedharan pointed out that Savarkar had “bowed before the British”, and therefore, no Congress member should accept any honors linked to him. Muraleedharan also stated that he did not believe Tharoor would accept the award, as doing so could embarrass the Congress party.
In response to these comments, Tharoor clarified to reporters in New Delhi that he first learned about the award through media reports on Tuesday and had made it clear that he would not be attending the ceremony. “I heard about it yesterday. I am not going. I am not attending”, Tharoor said.
On social media, Tharoor reiterated his position, explaining, “In the absence of clarifications about the nature of the award, the organization presenting it, or any other contextual details, the question of my attending the event or accepting the award does not arise.” He added that he had not been informed about the award beforehand and had only found out about it through media coverage.
Despite Tharoor’s statements, Aji Krishnan, secretary of HRDS India—the organization presenting the award—claimed that Tharoor had been informed about the award in advance. Krishnan mentioned that representatives from HRDS India had met Tharoor at his residence to invite him to the event and had provided him with a list of other award recipients. Krishnan suggested that Tharoor might have backed out of attending due to the controversy stirred by the Congress party.
Kerala’s Law Minister, P Rajeev, said it was ultimately Tharoor’s personal decision whether to accept the award or not.
Tharoor had been named as one of the recipients of the inaugural “Veer Savarkar International Impact Award 2025”, instituted by HRDS India, but his rejection has brought the issue of Savarkar’s legacy back into the political spotlight.
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