New Delhi: The Congress party on Wednesday distanced itself from alleged racist comments by Indian Overseas Affairs Chief Sam Pitroda, calling them “unacceptable and unfortunate”.
“The analogy Mr. Sam Pitroda made in the podcast to illustrate India’s diversity is very unfortunate and unacceptable. Indian National Congress leader and spokesperson Jairam Ramesh on The Indian National Congress party does not agree with these analogies at all.
In a recent interview with Politico, Pitroda discussed India’s status as a model of democracy in which people of different appearances coexist harmoniously, saying: “We can unite a country as diverse as India. —The Easterners there may look like Chinese, the Westerners may look like Arabs, the Southerners may look like Africans, it doesn’t matter.”
Also read: Sam Pitroda row: PM Modi says India will not tolerate disrespect based on skin color
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came down heavily on Pitroda and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said they would not accept such a racist mentality.
“I can tolerate it when I am insulted, but I cannot tolerate it when they insult my people. Can we judge a person’s merits based on the color of his skin? Who allows the prince to look down on my people so much? We will not Accept this racist mentality!” PM Modi said.
The remarks also drew the ire of the Bharatiya Janata Party, with Assam and Manipur chief ministers lashing out at Congress leaders.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma posted on In one piece. Hamare desh ke bare mein thoda to samajh lo!”
Manipur Chief Minister CM N Biren Singh said: “I condemn Congress leader Sam Pitroida’s racist remarks against the people of the Northeast.”
He added that the Congress has been trying to divide India through divide and rule policy. “But they must know that the Northeast has always been a part of India and always will be.”
Also Read: Sam Pitroda’s ‘Racist’ Line: 5 Past Controversial Statements from Congressional Leaders
Singh demanded an apology from Pitroda, saying such mockery of India’s diversity was highly unacceptable.
Last month, Pitroda stirred controversy when he spoke about the concept of estate taxes prevalent in the United States, saying these were issues that needed to be discussed. He described the US estate tax as an “interesting law”, but his comments were criticized by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who claimed that if the people came to power, Congress would snatch away the property left by the people and give it to their children.
In June 2023, as people were anticipating the grand opening of the Ram temple, Pitroda sparked controversy by claiming that the temple would not solve India’s pressing problems of unemployment, inflation, education and health.
In May 2019, Pitroda caused outrage by dismissively saying “so what” when asked about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.