The controversy surrounding the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor’s tweet (comment on popular social networking site ‘twitter’) has left me wondering whether it was something which genuinely had the potential of “hurting” anyone’s sensibilities or was it simply just being read out of context/being misunderstood?
Tharoor ran into trouble for his tweet in which he said sarcastically in response to a query that he would travel ”cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows!”. Reacting to the controversy over his remarks the minister has now tweeted an apology saying he is ”sorry” for hurting sentiments and that his words had been misunderstood.
I agree with Tharoor when he says (in another tweet): “It’s a silly expression but means no disrespect to economy travellers, only to airlines for herding us in like cattle. Many have misunderstood”.
“Holy cows are not individuals but sacrosanct issues or principles that no one dares challenge. Wish critics would look it up.”
What worries me most is the Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan’s statement saying the phrase used by Tharoor in his tweet is ”unacceptable” and that perhaps he is not conscious of local sensitivities since he was new to Indian politics.
Do we as people and more importantly our politicians lack a sense of humour? Or is it simply a case of Tharoor’s comment being read out of context, misunderstood and “lost in translation”.
Comments, thoughts anyone?
Here’s the original tweet just for those interested in analysing it with a different perspective (is there any other?)
absolutely, in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows!










