News Brief
Nishtha Anushree
May 09, 2024, 04:26 PM | Updated 04:26 PM IST
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While Sam Pitroda stepped down as the Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress after controversy over his racist remarks, another Congress leader jumped in to defend him by making similar statements.
West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary said, "There is no need for me to comment on somebody's views. Our country has proto-Australian, Negrita, Mongolian class, hai to hai."
"The demography of our country has different regional features. This is what we are taught, everybody doesn't look alike. Some are gora (white), some are kala (black). What can one do in this," he continued.
BJP leader Shehzad reacted to this and said on X, "Adhir Ranjan crosses the limits In defending Sam Pitroda he calls Indians (Negro or Negrito/Negrita ) Safed, Kala! Both words are offensive."
Pitroda had sparked controversy yesterday by saying, "...People on East look like Chinese, people on West look like Arab, people on North look like, you know, maybe white and people in South look like Africa."
While Congress distanced itself from these remarks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed "anger" and sought response from Rahul Gandhi over his "philosopher's" statements.
Earlier, Pitroda pulled Congress into controversy by praising the US inheritance tax. Modi said, "Congress ki loot zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi," on this.
He is infamous for saying 'hua to hua' on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He had said in 2019, "Ab kya hai 84 ka? Aapne kya kiya 5 saal mein, usku baat kariye. 84 mein hua to hua."
Nishtha Anushree is Senior Sub-editor at Swarajya. She tweets at @nishthaanushree.