Prime Minister Narendra Modi has landed in a controversy after his comments intended to praise Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina were interpreted as sexist and chauvinistic, and became an outrage on Twitter.
βI am happy to say that the prime minister of Bangladesh, despite being a woman, is saying boldly that she has zero tolerance toward terrorism," Modi said, at an event at the University of Dhaka, one of the nation's top educational institutions.
He spoke in Hindi, but it was soon all over Twitter, where users took exception to it and tweeted with the hastag #Despitebeingawoman. The opposition Congress party's spokesman Sanjay Jha was among the first to jump in.
In no other country,would a man who had openly lied on his marital status for years, deliberately,would have become PM. #DespiteBeingAWoman
β Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) June 8, 2015
So why is anyone surprised with this #DespiteBeingAWoman statement that the PM made?Reflects the majority of our populace,no? #DemocracyDay
β Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) June 8, 2015
Modi's record in India is better. He has pushed through programmes to combat female foeticide, raise educational opportunities for girls, and encouraged higher employment for women. But when it comes to his wife, to whom he was married as a youngster and left shortly thereafter, there is barely any acknowledgement, a fact that also came to the fore today. He had left out her name in successive election affidavits until last year, when he admitted to being married under oath.
Narendra Modi committed perjury by willfully falsifying his marital status for several years in his election affidavits. #DespiteBeingAWoman
β Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) June 8, 2015
For those wondering if Modi was misquoted, here's the relevant bit from official PMO transcript. #DespiteBeingAWomanpic.twitter.com/KqtWAi2n21
β Mihir Sharma (@mihirssharma) June 8, 2015
Here are more tweets with the #despitebeingawoman hashtag.
So is the #PM trying to say we women are generally tolerant of terrorism? #fail#despitebeingawoman
β Arpita Das (@yodakinthestore) June 8, 2015
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