Modi paying lip-service to Mahatma: Tharoor

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was paying "lip-service" to Mahatma Gandhi and the ruling party's intellectuals, who had been "deep-rooted in hatred" for the Father of the Nation, were now "hailing him as a hero", Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said on Sunday.

"It's the easiest to pay lip-service to the Mahatma. BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj is an example who called for building of statues of Nathuram Godse even as the government is co-opting Gandhi as a symbol in most spheres of political and social life," he said at a session at the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) here.

He said that the Ramayana and the Mahabharata should also be taught in schools.

"The Ramayana and the Mahabharata should also be taught like the way epics like the Iliad and the Odyssey are read in schools. But I'm not at all in favour of injecting a political ideology into our education."

To a question on Britain's legacy on India's education, Tharoor said it was "unfortunate" that Shakespeare was taught in schools and colleges in India whereas there was not enough emphasis on the teaching of Kalidasa.