Whoops! Sushma Ji, It’s Mahasweta Devi, Not Ashapurna Devi
She mentioned the names of two books that were not written by Mahasweta Devi, but by Ashapurna Devi.
Renowned writer, social activist and feminist Mahasweta Devi breathed her last on Thursday and several people, including political leaders, took to Twitter to express their condolences.
One of them was Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj.
Swaraj also tweeted about how Devi’s books left a “lasting impression” on her life, quoting two of her books.
Except, she quoted a different Devi.
Swaraj mentioned the names of two books, Pratham Pratishruti and Bakul Katha. Both these books were not written by Mahasweta Devi but by Ashapurna Devi.
Swaraj, who is otherwise hailed on social media as the queen of ‘homecoming’ for her prompt responses to calls of help, could not escape the backlash of wrongly attributing the accolades.
She, then, deleted the tweet.
Sorry Sushma ji, but the Twitter world never forgets, or forgives.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)