Twitter Feud: Netaji Kin Chandra Bose Locks Horn With Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy, Asks Hindus to Shun Mutton as 'Goat Was Mother' For Mahatma Gandhi
Bose, in a sarcastic post, said Hindus should shun mutton as Mahatma Gandhi considered 'goat as mother'. The tweet led to a scathing revert from Roy who said Gandhi was not a 'protector of Hindus'.
Kolkata, July 28: West Bengal BJP vice president Chandra Kumar Bose, who is also the grandson of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's elder brother, marked dissent against his own party's stand on lynchings by alleged cow vigilantes. In a series of posts on social media, Bose condemned the lynching incidents in "BJP-ruled states". His remarks, however, irked RSS veteran and Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy.
Bose, in a sarcastic post, said Hindus should shun mutton as Mahatma Gandhi considered "goat as mother". The tweet led to a scathing revert from Roy who said Gandhi could not be treated as a "protector of Hindus" and his perception towards goat or cow is inconsequential for other Hindus.
"Neither Gandhiji nor your grandfather ever said goats were Mata — that’s your conclusion. Nor did Gandhiji (or anyone else) ever proclaim that he was the protector of Hindus. We Hindus regard the cow as our mother, not the goat," the Governor said, adding, "Please don’t peddle such rot."
Bose retaliated claiming that Gandhi used to ensure that he be provided goat's milk whenever he stayed at his grandfather's residence. "It was implied that he treated the goat as #Mata. That was it. There need not be any argument/controversy on this issue,” Bose wrote.
"The views are personal. The cow-centric politics and repeated lynching in BJP-ruled states are disgusting," he added, mincing no words while condemning his own party.
In a counter-argument, Roy said it would be incorrect to conclude that Gandhi considered the goat as mother as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, "his dearest discipline" and his community - the Kashmir Pandits - are ardent consumers of meat.
Bose retaliated again saying he is not against Hindus, but not a votary of regressive and violent politics.
"We are staunch Hindus, but we don’t believe that religion has anything to do with what you eat! We despise bigotry and feel people with such archaic views have no place in #Bharat,” he said.
Taking offence to this remark, Roy asked Bose to clarify what he meant by "we" and what his vision of "progressiveness".
Here are the final tweets exchanged between the two leaders:
Bose, 57, joined the BJP in 2016 and contested unsuccessfully against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Roy, on the other hand, has been associated with the BJP's ideological parent - the RSS - for decades, apart from being a writer and socio-political commentator. In 2015, he was appointed as the Governor of Tripura.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 28, 2018 09:54 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).