In yet another ‘egg on the face moment’, Congress spokesperson, Jaiveer Shergill, on Sunday, used his official Twitter account to throw a joke with casteist slur in it. In the tweet, he shared an image with a joke written on it and wrote, “The three top driving rules in our Punjab (many of us can relate to it)!!” The joke used the word, ‘kan**r’ which is highly derogatory and often used as a slur for those who belong to Schedule Caste.
Almost immediately, netizens called out to his blunder and questioned him for sharing such a joke. One user said that nothing better could be expected from Congress leaders. In contrast, other users called him out for sharing a castist joke casually without considering his position as Supreme Court lawyer or spokesperson of a national political party.
A senior advocate and seasoned politician using a casteist slur to crack a joke.
— Srishti Rajiv Sharma (@SrishtiRajiv) September 13, 2020
Your insensitive tweet normalises casual casteism. You should be ashamed of yourself! Apologise and Delete this! @BhimAgniveer https://t.co/UcmWWOZ6Ai
Nothing better can be expected of a leader from a political party with a tradition of false sense of entitlements.
— Guru Prakash (@IGuruPrakash) September 13, 2020
Whether mindful or not, the usage of word Kanjar propagates casual casteism and is offensive to the Kanjar tribe and the larger Dalit samaj.
Please remove. 🙏 https://t.co/dz3oV6QyYU
Shergill later deleted the tweet, but he did not post any apology for using a casteist slur.
