'Unfortunate, Unacceptable': I.N.D.I.A Bloc Leaders Distance From Sam Pitroda's Racist Remarks

Indian Overseas Congress chairman Sam Pitroda said that people in the East look like Chinese, in the West like Arabs, and in the South as Africans.

Congress and other I.N.D.I.A bloc leaders have distanced themselves from Sam Pitroda's comments ( Image Source :PTI )

Opposition's I.N.D.I.A bloc distanced itself on Wednesday from the racist remarks made by Indian Overseas Congress chairman Sam Pitroda saying people in the East look like Chinese. Pitroda stirred a new controversy earlier in the day as his statement on diversity in India backfired. 

Pitroda was speaking on the diversity in India when he said that people in the East look like Chinese, in the West like Arabs, and in the South as Africans.

"We could hold a country together as diverse as India, where people on the East look like Chinese, people on the West look like Arab, people on North look like white and maybe people on South look like Africans," Pitroda remarked. 

The statement soon snowballed into a controversy with the Bharatiya Janata Party slamming the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that he would not tolerate insults directed at fellow Indians 

But the I.N.D.I.A bloc leaders distanced themselves from the issue calling out the comments as "most unfortunate" and "completely unacceptable".

"The analogies drawn by Mr. Sam Pitroda in a podcast to illustrate India's diversity are most unfortunate and unacceptable. The Indian National Congress completely dissociates itself from these analogies," said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in a social media post on X.

The analogies drawn by Mr. Sam Pitroda in a podcast to illustrate India's diversity are most unfortunate and unacceptable. The Indian National Congress completely dissociates itself from these analogies.

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 8, 2024

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi seized the opportunity to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he "plays full toss on these useless issues". 

"I challenge him to play full toss on employment, inflation, and atrocities on women, only then I will believe that yes someone has played...," she said. 

"As far as the remark of Sam Pitroda is concerned, none of the leaders of the INDIA alliance support that...," said Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh.