Tejasvi Surya Slammed for 2015 Tweet on Arab Women, Deletes It
“95% Arab women have never had an orgasm in the last few hundred years...” Tejasvi Surya had tweeted in 2015.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Tejasvi Surya on Sunday, 19 April, was forced to delete a 2015 tweet on Arab women after he was slammed and called out for the ‘misogynistic nature’ of his post.
Surya, who was elected from Bengaluru South in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, had tweeted:
The politician was quoting Pakistani-Canadian journalist and author Tarek Fatah from an interview with Swarajya magazine, titled: ‘Tarek Fatah: Breaking Down Jihadi Terror’.
Surya’s tweet went viral after five years, triggering a storm of responses and call for action against him.
‘Racial Slur’: Surya’s Tweet Questioned by Arab Community
Kuwaiti lawyer and Director of International Human Rights Mejbel Al Sharika shared the screenshot of the tweet and wrote: "Dear @Twitter, this Indian politicians @Tejasvi_Surya has racially slurred Arab women, I wonder how is his account still active? Is it not against Twitter's official policy?”
Another Twitetr user Noora AlGhurair from UAE tweeted that Surya had “no respect for women” despite India having some great women leaders.
‘India Embarrassed, Humiliated’: Congress
Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha took a dig at BJP, saying that the party’s ticket to Tajasvi Surya was to popularise their “bigoted political profile.”
A few other Twitter users called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take action against Surya.
When Surya Deleted a 2014 ‘Misogynistic’ Tweet
In a 2014 tweet, Tejasvi had written about “dreading” the day Women’s Reservation Bill becomes a reality. The women’s reservation has been stalled over the years with members across party lines blocking it.
“With the exception of Women’s Reservation in Parliament, Modi govt agenda is inspiring. Dread d day when women’s reservations becomes a reality (sic),” Surya tweeted in June 2014, days after Narendra Modi was sworn-in as the prime minister.
He was again forced to delete the tweet, after social media called it out post his nomination to fight the Bengaluru South seat in March 2019.
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