It was January 12. Mediapersons were told that a high-profile speaker would be invited to address the demonstration at Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University, where thousands of students, teachers and other citizens have been protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act since December.
I was told the mystery speaker was Shashi Tharoor, writer and Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram. Tharoor had found himself at the centre of a social media controversy when he tweeted his unhappiness about protesters using the slogan “La Ilaha Illallah”. Tharoor received backlash for the tweet, with many people calling him “Islamaphobic”.
