Indian Overseas Congress chairman Sam Pitroda on Wednesday stoked another controversy with his statement on how "people in the east look like Chinese while those in the south look like Africans." Pitroda, whose recent statement on inheritance tax landed Congress in a soup, was talking about the diversity of India when he made the statement.
Calling India a shining example of democracy in the world, Pitroda said the people of the country have "survived 75 years in a very happy environment". "We have survived 75 years in a very happy environment where people could live together, leaving aside a few fights here and there. We could hold a country together as diverse as India, where people on the east look like Chinese, people on the west look like Arab, people on the north look like white and maybe people on the South look like Africans."
Pitroda made the "observation" in an interview with 'The Statesman'. He added that the people of India respected different languages, religions, food and customs which vary from region to region. "That’s the India that I believe in, where everybody has a place and everybody compromises little bit," he said.
However, Pitroda's statement triggered a controversy, with the BJP slamming him for his "racist comment". Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was one of the leaders who hit out at Pitroda. "Sam bhai (Brother), I am from the North East and I look like an Indian. We are a diverse country – we may look different but we are all one. Hamare desh ke bare mein thoda to samajh lo!," Sarma wrote on X.
BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla too called Pitroda's comments "shocking, despicable and disgusting." "He is the mentor of Rahul Gandhi. It is the word, spirit, vocabulary and ideology of Rahul Gandhi. First, they divided based on caste, religion and language. Now, they are dividing Indian vs. Indian. To make statements like Indians are like Chinese, isn't it racist? Isn't it an insulting and objectionable? It shows that 'Congress ki Mohabbat ki Dukan actually has Nafrat and Racism ka Saman," Poonawalla added.
Meanwhile, Congress has reacted to the remarks, calling them "unfortunate and unacceptable". "Analogies drawn by Sam Pitroda in a podcast to illustrate India's diversity are most unfortunate and unacceptable. Indian National Congress completely dissociates itself from these analogies," Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh posted on X.
