Twitter is usually a place where people generally get into argument over a variety of issues, though the conflicts mostly arise between people who have different political, religious and ideological preferences.
This time a war of words broke out between noted columnist Shefali Vaidya and a Samajwadi Party spokesperson named Pankhuri Pathak. According to her Twitter bio, Pankhuri is a Media spokesperson of the Samajwadi party who calls herself a follower of Lohia, Ambedkar and Nehru.
The argument between them began over the sitting posture of Akhilesh Yadav and Narendra Modi while they visited religious places. Pankhuri was tying herself up in weak arguments when facts were presented to her. She claimed that Narendra Modi was sitting in ‘namaaz’ pose, whereas she was educated that it was a Buddhist pose only.
The fight got a bit heated, and as a response to a tweet by Shefali, the SP spokesperson retorted by outright bringing in Shefali’s kids as some form of twisted revenge:
@ShefVaidya good to see that female Bhakts r giving their make counterparts good competition in foul mouthing.your ‘triplets’ must be proud
— Pankhuri Pathak (@pankhuripathak) March 7, 2017
@ShefVaidya I can imagine them abusing and bullying other children in school . Congrats on being a model mother.
— Pankhuri Pathak (@pankhuripathak) March 7, 2017
The SP spokesperson tried to justify her act by claiming that she was “abused” because of being termed a “moron”. To which, Shefali defended her that the term was not abusive, but descriptive:
.@pankhuripathak, giving the definition of moron. Someone who cannot recognise the difference btn a temple n gompa n prayer n meditation. pic.twitter.com/O665s5H1Di
— Shefali Vaidya (@ShefVaidya) March 7, 2017
Leaving semantics aside, even if Pankhuri was called something more objectionable, it certainly doesn’t warrant or justify Pankhuri’s reaction of bringing in someone’s children in the debate and terming the children “bully”.
This behavior of the spokesperson naturally, irked many people who didn’t hold back in their reactions
@ShefVaidya@pankhuripathak When you can’t argue on facts, make it personal! Real classy. Classic left-lib approach.
— The Wordmaster (@W0rdsmaster) March 7, 2017
.@pankhuripathak I cringe at this disgusting tactic. When u can’t counter a woman’s logic, bring her children in to shut her up @ShefVaidya
— Nupur (@UnSubtleDesi) March 7, 2017
@ShefVaidya@pankhuripathak dragging kids in a political debate to cow down a mother suits the DNA of the gang of goons @yadavakhilesh leads
— Abhishek* Dwivedi (@abhishekD27) March 7, 2017
@pankhuripathak Some Comeback this Pankhuri Ji. No logic,No facts & the way you dragged @ShefVaidya‘s kids into this is supremely disgusting
— Atul Kumar Mishra (@TheAtulMishra) March 7, 2017
@pankhuripathak That’s all you got when you run out of logical things to say? Dragging her kids into this is just disgusting @ShefVaidya
— Shuchi Singh Kalra (@shuchikalra) March 7, 2017
@pankhuripathak@ShefVaidya spare the kids pls..! This is such a low level politics..if u can’t respect a woman atleast respect a mother!!
— Rajni Kalra ??ੴ (@rajjorani) March 7, 2017
Even Shefali Vaidya had strong words against Pankhuri’s behavior:
Another gem from the very erudite @pankhuripathak. Passing judgement on my kids who have NOTHING to do with either politics or my views! https://t.co/3Tz7uO60df
— Shefali Vaidya (@ShefVaidya) March 7, 2017
It does remain to be seen if any action is taken against the SP spokesperson who has not even attempted to delete her tweets or apologise for her behaviour. In fact, she went ahead and blocked Shefali Vaidya, maybe to avoid the uncomfortable questions she was asking.
Samajwadi Party leaders are not exactly known to be respectful towards women, or for that matter twoards anyone. Spokespersons are usually supposed to be people who provide some respectability to a political party through their augments and conduct, which surely is not the case here.
