Indian Overseas Congress Chairman Sam Pitroda’s latest statement joins the list of controversies to his name, drawing attention anew. It was in an interview with The Statesman that Pitroda remarked that “People in East look like Chinese, those in West look like Arabs, those in South look like Africans, those in North look like Whites.”
The racially charged comment was a part of Pitroda’s statement describing the diversity of India. Though Congress swiftly distanced itself from the statement by calling it “unfortunate and unacceptable”, there is no doubt that it has sparked off widespread wrath.
1. US’s Inheritance Tax row
Pitroda has been caught up in a succession of controversies for quite some time now. His comment on the US’s Inheritance Tax had been a talking point last month. In his own words, “You in your generation made wealth, you are leaving now, and you must leave your wealth to the public, not all of it, but half of it, which to me sounds fair.” It was received with anxiety by the people, suspecting Congress to be on board with such a tax, reading it along with Congress’s wealth redistribution poll promise.
Pitroda’s comment also faced huge criticism from the BJP with PM Modi using the LIC tagline to critique the situation by saying how “Congress’s loot would continue 'zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi.'”
Meanwhile, the Congress remarked that it was part of Pitroda’s personal opinion and not the party's official stand. The inheritance tax system was done away in India in 1985 under the Rajiv Gandhi government.
2. Comments on Ram Temple
Rewinding a few months, just last year, in December, Pitroda stirred controversy by expressing his frustration with the national attention given to the Ram Temple, arguing that more pressing issues like inflation were being overlooked.
“When the entire nation is hung up on Ram Temple and Ram Janmabhoomi, it bothers me…To me, religion is something very personal and national issues are education, employment, growth, economy, inflation, health, environment, pollution. But no one speaks about it,” he said. The comment was made just two weeks before the consecration of the temple. It was later clarified by ANI news that this was just Sam Pitroda’s personal views and that Congress does not subscribe to these ideas.
READ HERE | Sam Pitroda resigns as Congress's overseas unit chief amid ‘racist’ remark row
In June, he garnered attention with his statement, "Temples won’t create jobs." In the event where Rahul Gandhi was also present, Pitroda accused the Indian government of focusing on religious matters and not focusing on developmental projects. In Pitroda’s words, “We have a problem with unemployment and inflation……but everyone talks about ram, hanuman, mandir”.
3. Hurting sentiments
He had been in a tight spot for other statements in the yesteryears as well, like his seemingly callous comment in 2019, “Anti-Sikh riots happened in 1984, so what?” He made an apology later on and tried to clarify that his statement was taken out of context and that he was not well-versed in Hindi.
4. Wrath of the middle class
It was in April 2019 that he remarked that “Middle class shouldn't be selfish be ready for higher taxes”, giving a flashback of the inheritance tax comment. P Chidambaram, the former Finance Minister, assured that there wouldn't be any additional tax burden on the middle class. Rahul Gandhi clarified that the funds for the NYAY scheme wouldn't be sourced from the taxes paid by the people.
Sam Pitroda had been in hot water for his comments multiple times and the Congress had disowned his statements as the party’s every time he made them.