Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde is not new to controversy. He has received backlash for his misogynistic and Islamophobic remarks time and again.
On Monday, 11 March, Hegde attacked Congress President Rahul Gandhi for raising questions about the Balakot air strikes. He asked if Rahul Gandhi would be willing to provide DNA proof to establish that his caste is Brahmin.
“They want proof it seems (of the airstrikes in Pakistan). They want proof of what the soldiers have done. Can this son of a Muslim give proof that he is a Brahmin as he claims? His father is a Muslim and mother is a Christian, how did he become a Brahmin? Can he provide any proof?” he said.
He also went on to say, “When Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber, his body was in pieces. In order to identify his body pieces, a DNA test was to be done. When officials asked for the blood sample of Rahul, Sonia Gandhi was said to have requested to take the blood sample of Priyanka Gandhi and it’s on record.”
His statements provoked the tweeple who said the ‘man has no decency.’
What levels of ‘uncouthness’ have we reached, asked journalist Gargi Rawat.
Journalist Rohini Singh said it is shameful that a ‘bigot’ like Hegde is in the Cabinet.
Hegde is the ‘barometer of depravity prevalent in the collective Indian psyche’, said one Twitter user.
Some rued at the fact that he faces no repercussions.
Another Twitter user questioned Hegde’s statement. Do you mean that a Muslim/ Christian can’t be a true Indian, she asked.
Hegde had earlier called Gandhi a “hybrid specimen” who was “born to a Christian and a Muslim”. He had also targeted the Muslim wife of a politician and made derogatory comments.
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