Shashi Tharoor faces arrest over Hindu Nair women jibe

Thiruvananthapuram: A local court in Thiruvananthapuram has issued arrest warrant against Shashi Tharoor MP for failing to appear in a case pertaining to the alleged offensive remarks against Hindu Nair women in one of his books.

Last month, the additional chief judicial magistrate court in Thiruvananthapuram had directed Mr Tharoor to appear in person on December 21. In his book The Great Indian Novel the following controversial lines had led to a major controversy: “In Kerala the men of Nair community realise that their wives are free to receive them by seeing if another man’s slippers aren’t outside her door.”.

A lawyer had filed a private complaint against the diplomat turned politician following which the court had directed him to appear in person.

A section of social and political organisations had also accused Mr Tharoor of deliberately attempting to defame Nair women.

The Great Indian Novel  is a fictional work that recasts and resets the story of Mahabharata  in the context of India’s freedom movement and focuses on the first three decades of post Independence era.

It is a satirical work which makes fun of the political class in India. Tharoor mingles mythology, culture, politics and tradition in the novel.