Tharoor’s ‘squeamishly veg’ tweet triggers controversy

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 30

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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor found himself on a sticky wicket today as his tweet over a visit to a local fish market kicked up a row, with the CPM and BJP demanding an apology, alleging he had insulted the fishermen community.

Tharoor had visited a fish market in the state capital recently and spoken to the women selling fish there. He later posted some pictures of the visit. “Found a lot of enthusiasm at the fish market, even for a squeamish, vegetarian MP,” Tharoor later tweeted, triggering a row over the use of word “squeamish”.

The former Union minister, who is trying to score a hat-trick from Thiruvananthapuram, claimed his words had been “deliberately twisted”. “My words have been twisted to create misunderstanding,” he said.

Tharoor in another tweet quoted the meaning of the word from an online English-Malayalam dictionary. “For those Malayali Leftist politicians who are currently having difficulty understanding my English,” he tweeted.

BJP candidate Kummanam Rajasekharan said Tharoor should apologise as his act of “humiliating” the fishermen community through social media was “extremely deplorable”. He had insulted the fishermen community who had saved several lives during the devastating floods in August last year, the former Mizoram Governor said.

Fishermen took out marches in Kochi, Kollam and Kozhikode against the tweet, saying they had been insulted.

Tharoor said: “By describing myself as a squeamish vegetarian, I have made fun of myself and it was never intended to humiliate anyone. Despite being a vegetarian, the fisherwomen have shown so much affection towards me. That is what I have tried to convey through the tweet.” — PTI