Shashi Tharoor’s contentious remark on the Prime Minister’s choice of headgears and calling the Northeastern headgear ‘outlandish’ was not received well by many including dignitaries like Kiren Rijiju, current Union Minister of State for Home Affairs from Arunachal Pradesh and Himanta Biswa Sarma, minister, with the government of Assam.
Speaking in a seminar in Thiruvananthapuram earlier today over the topic of ‘Standing up to hatred: Violence and intolerance in contemporary India’, Tharoor reportedly stated,” Why does our Prime Minister, who wears all sorts of outlandish headgear wherever he goes around the country, refuse to wear a Muslim skull cap? You’ve seen him in hilarious Naga headdress, feathers, and various kinds of extraordinary outfits. Why does he refuse to wear the green?”
Tharoor’s branding of traditional headgears as ‘outlandish’ has drawn severe criticism on social media. Amongst the various people who voiced their displeasure, Kiran Rijiju took to Twitter demanding apology from the Congress party for insulting the people of India’s North East & Tribals.
Himanta Biswa Sarma, on the other hand, took a step ahead blaming the Congress of mocking the people of Northeast for the last 70 years, wondering whether Rahul Gandhi would come forward and apologize for such an abhorring statement made by his fellow party member.
An abhorring act!
Mocking people of #NorthEast and our dressing choices is what Rahul Gandhi’s family & .@INCIndia has done for 70 years.
Will .@RahulGandhi apologise for such statements of his party members? pic.twitter.com/64ecDIUOyg
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) August 6, 2018
It is notable that the Naga headgear that Tharoor has called hilarious, is a traditional Naga headdress adorned by the native tribes in Nagaland and it is a part of their cultural heritage. Tharoor, however, showcasing his double-standards, had chosen not to comment on the recent event where his own party President Rahul Gandhi had refused to wear the traditional Mysuru Peta, the traditional headgear of Karnataka. Earlier, propagandist masquerading as a comedian, Kunal Kamra, too, mocked the hat-like headgear, Jaapi, which is a cultural icon of Assam.
