Shashi Tharoor and the Cassandra Curse in Indian Politics |
In Greek mythology, Cassandra, daughter of the King of Troy, was granted the gift of prophecy by Apollo. After rejecting his advances, she was cursed so that no one would believe her warnings.
Cassandra was cursed not with ignorance but with clarity. She foresaw the fall of Troy and the catastrophe that lay ahead, but accepting her warnings would have required Troy to confront its own decay. It was easier to dismiss the messenger.
Indian politics has perfected this curse.
Few contemporary Indian politicians embody the Cassandra dilemma as consistently as Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. Over the years, he has developed a reputation for saying what is institutionally correct, democratically necessary, or morally defensible – only to find himself attacked not just by political opponents, but by his own side too. The reactions are often predictable: selective outrage framed in the prism of narrow political focus, and nuanced positions reduced to social media fodder.
The discomfort Tharoor generates is not based on ideology. It stems from something far more destabilising for today's politicians: an insistence that democratic principles should apply regardless of who is in power.
Take his recent warnings about the erosion of parliamentary standards. In a country where Parliament is supposed to be supreme, Tharoor has argued that disruption has become institutionalised, hollowing out scrutiny and weakening democracy itself.
He criticised the BJP for bulldozing legislation without consultation, for reducing Parliament to a rubber stamp, and for the Prime Minister’s........