National Political Editor of Hindustan Times and former NDTV journalist Sunetra Choudhury was subject to criticism on Twitter after she posted a tweet objecting to installation of a giant conch at the Delhi airport. Sunetra Choudhury found the installation, a holy symbol among Hindus, ugly.
Taking to the microblogging site to express her disapproval of the rotating conch or Shankha at the Delhi airport, she said that it is uglier than the carpet, and asked the airport to remove it, tagging the Twitter handle of the Delhi Airport.
Oh my dear lord @DelhiAirport , this is even uglier than the carpet. Please remove pic.twitter.com/JkMI2MzVdy
— sunetra choudhury (@sunetrac) January 12, 2020
This didn’t go down well with Twitter users, who were quick to label it as Hinduphobic. People also commented that the installation looks beautiful to them, and it is looking ugly for the journalist due to her biased vision. And as with any debate over social media, some of the users chose to hit below the belt and commented on Sunetra’s looks in response to her tweet.
The conch was installed at the Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International airport in October last year as part of the beautification of the airport. The large shining installation slowly rotates on its vertical axis.
After it was installed, BJD MP from Odisha had tweeted saying he is extremely happy to see it, which also the symbol of the Biju Janata Dal.
Extremely happy to see the “Sankha” (Conch), symbol of our Biju Janata Dal, at the Terminal-3 of Delhi International Airport after landing from Bhubaneswar along with Hon’ble Rajya Sabha MP Shri. Prasanna Acharya and Hon’ble Lok Sabha MP Shri. Chandrasekhar Sahu. pic.twitter.com/7CVRlgAVK4
— Dr. Sasmit Patra I ଡ଼ଃ ସସ୍ମିତ ପାତ୍ର (@sasmitpatra) October 21, 2019
The conch shell, known as Shankha in India, has religious importance in Hinduism and Buddhism. The Shankha is a sacred emblem of the Hindu preserver God Vishnu. It is also the used as a trumpet in Hindu rituals, and in the past was it used as a war trumpet. It is often used in Hindu art, and households also use as a decorative item.
The Shankh also finds place in the official state emblem of Kerala state, which is derived from the Royal coat of arms of the Kingdom of Travancore. The emblem features the national emblem, two elephants, and a conch shell.
Beauty lies in the eyes of beholder..
Now smile?— Kandisa (@1_zeitgeist) January 12, 2020
As for whether the Shankha installed at the Delhi airport is ugly or not, this tweet describes it perfectly, ‘Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder’.
