Former BJP MP Tarun Vijay’s racist remarks have created quite uproar in South India as several top leaders slammed Tarun for referring South Indians as ‘blacks’.
Responding to Tarun’s remarks, actor-Jana Sena president Pawan Kalyan took his Twitter and severely condemned Tarun’s comments in a series of tweets. Although Pawan didn’t take direct name, he made strong comments against Tarun and his party (BJP). Pawan said it’s unfortunate that such ‘ideological’ people and the parties (BJP) that accommodate him exist at national level. This is one of the severe attacks of Pawan against BJP in the recent times.
Pawan wrote, “You need the revenue of ‘black’ South Indians but you look down upon South Indians. It’s our misery that people with such ideology and the parties that accommodate people like him exist at national level.”
Pawan also recalled that India’s national flag was designed by a South Indian. Pawan added that the total proud and arrogance of North is visible in his (Tarun Vijay’s) words. While Tarun apologised to his words and clarified, Pawan said it as ‘unforgettable’ and stated that such distinction of North and South divide the nation.
Earlier, former BJP MP Tarun participated in a discussion on international channel Al Jazeera over ‘racism’ against Nigerians, Africans in India after an assault on a group of Nigerians was reported in Greater Noida recently.
Speaking in the discussion, Tarun said that Indians cannot be called ‘racists’ as they live with ‘black people’ from the Southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. “If we were racist, why would we have the entire south, which is complete, you know, Tamil, you know Kerala, you know Karnataka and Andhra, why do we live with them? We have black people around us,” said Vijay.
Tarun Vijay later aplogised and admitted his remarks sounded ‘ridiculous and very bad’.
“In many parts of the nation we have different people, in colour and never ever we had any discrimination against them,” he tweeted. “My words perhaps were not enough to convey this. Feel bad, really feel sorry, my apologies to those who feel I said different than what I meant,” he wrote.