Shashi Tharoor caught between ‘blonde’ and ‘ISI agent’

NEW DELHI: Only the sleaziest writer of Bollywood potboilers could have come up with a script like this. The much-photographed wife of high-profile Union minister Shashi Tharoor finds on his phone highly romantic and emotionally fraught messages from an attractive journalist from Pakistan — and leaks them on Twitter. The husband claims his Twitter account has been hacked. The wife tells TOI on Wednesday evening that his account had not been hacked, that she was the one who had posted the messages, and that "this completely stupid Pakistani journalist woman has been stalking Shashi since April" (she later called requesting that she not be quoted).

She is also reported saying "men are stupid anyways", that she would not tolerate her husband's "rip-roaring affair", and that she would seek divorce. She accuses the journalist of being "an ISI agent". The journalist denies the charge and contemptuously declares on Twitter that "the blonde's aqal (brain) is weaker than her grammar and spelling." Accusations and counter allegations fly thick and fast through the day. And then in the best tradition of C-grade dramas, the couple issues a joint statement saying they are "distressed" by the "unauthorized tweets" and "stress" that they are "happily married". And the "agent" wishes the couple "a happy and long marriage."

When the dramatis personae happen to be the dashing, 57-year-old junior minister for HRD, who had to resign as junior minister for external affairs in April 2010 following a scandal over shareholding in the Kochi IPL team, his high-profile wife of three-and-a-half years Sunanda Pushkar, and a 45-year-old Lahore-based newspaper columnist, Mehr Tarar — it is easy to understand why this very public, private affair has been perfect fodder for both mainstream and social media for the past 36 hours. One of the messages that Sunanda leaked said, "I love you Shashi Tharoor. And I go while in love with you, irrevocably, irreversibly, hamesha, Bleeding, but always your Mehr."

Sources said the unsavoury public catfight was likely to hurt Tharoor, a Congress MP who faces a Lok Sabha election in a few months. Pushkar had told The Economic Times on Wednesday: "I took upon myself the crimes of this man during the IPL. I will not allow this to be done to me." When asked on Twitter, if this was true, Pushkar later backtracked, saying, "No. I took upon myself the sponsorship during time of IPL." Pushkar also told NDTV on Thursday she had been instructed by the Congress not to comment on the IPL scandal.

In an interview to the channel, Pushkar alleged Tarar wanted to be in "a close relationship with him (Tharoor). She knows how to push the buttons. She apparently wants to have a lifelong relationship with him. Not knowing that he is a very happily married man and has no intention of leaving his wife. And his wife has no intention, at the moment, to leave him." Pushkar did not dwell on what she meant by "at the moment".

She did calibrate her earlier statement where she had outright accused Tarar of being an ISI agent by saying, "I have been told in Pakistan that she is wired ...and not to be trusted. When they say wired, it means she is an agent. If she wants to sue me she is very welcome to."

Tarar stoutly denied her involvement with ISI as suggested by Pushkar at one point of time. She tweeted, rather sarcastically, "My name is Mehr, and I am not an ISI agent. Or RAW. Or CIA. Or Mossad. Or even the dead KGB. May I go now? She also tweeted, "For a woman to trash another woman linking her w/her husband is the lowest form of sickness ever. It's nauseous. No respect for her marriage."

In a phone interview to TOI, she also said, "My entire family lives here (in Pakistan). To be linked to a Hindu politician here is a big deal. I can be killed for something like this here...People have called me a RAW agent before because I tweet in favour of India. Kya main itni buri spy hoon? (Am I that bad a spy?) What have I done? If I come to India, who am I going to interview? Whom will journalists interview if not politicians?"

She denied sending Tharoor BBM messages. "I have BBM but I am not on BBM with him (Tharoor). Of course I have not sent these messages. Why would I have this interaction with anyone I barely know? My interaction with him has been limited to interviews."

Tharoor and Pushkar issued a joint statement on Thursday. "We are distressed by the unseemly controversy that has arisen about some unauthorized tweets from our Twitter accounts. Various distorted accounts of comments allegedly made by Sunanda have appeared in the press. It appears that some personal and private comments responding to these unauthorized tweets -- comments that were not intended for publication -- have been misrepresented and led to some erroneous conclusions. We wish to stress that we are happily married and intend to remain that way. Sunanda has been ill and hospitalized this week and is seeking to rest. We would be grateful if the media respects our privacy," the statement said.

In her blog, Tarar too wished the Tharoors all the best. "I hope they live happily ever after and have a long and happy marriage," she wrote.

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