BJP ex-MP sparks row with ‘racist’ comment

New Delhi, April 7

BJP ex-MP Tarun Vijay today kicked up a racism row after he appeared to suggest Indians cannot be called racist as people live with those from south India who are “black”.

Vijay’s comments during a panel discussion on an international news channel sparked an outrage with the Congress saying it was shocking while the DMK said it was funny.

Seeking to defend India against the charge of racism following attacks on African students, he said his words were perhaps not enough to convey what he wanted to say. 

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“Feel sorry, my apologies to those who feel I said different than what I meant. I feel the entire statement was this; we have fought racism and we have people with different colour and culture, and still never had any racism.” 

Facing all-round backlash, especially on social media, the former editor of Panchjanya, a RSS-affiliated weekly, tendered an apology on Twitter. BJP spokesperson Shaina NC said Vijay could have phrased his comments differently.

Congress leader Khushboo said the remarks were “shocking”. “Ours is a secular country which does not believe in any colour and here is a party which is trying to give one single colour to it,” Khushboo said. — PTI

Trigger

If we (Indians) were racist, why would we have entire south? Which is you know... completely Tamil... Kerala... Karnataka and Andhra. Why do we live with them? We have blacks, black people all around us.
— Tarun Vijay, BJPex-MP

Outrage

Comments show the saffron party’s tendency to discriminate among the people of the country.
— Mallikarjun Kharge, Cong MP

Vijay’s comments are funny. Not all in south India are dark-skinned, for example late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
— TKS Elangovan, DMK MP