Aaj Tak anchor Nishant Chaturvedi on Friday apologised for his disparaging tweet targeting former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi after widespread condemnation. His apology came after Rabri Devi’s son, Tejashwi Yadav, asked Chaturvedi’s boss and India Today Group chief Arun Purie if he endorsed the ‘the classist, racist, xenophobe and casteist remark.’
Tejashwi wrote, “Dear @aroonpurie ji, Do you really endorse the classist, racist, xenophobe and casteist remark by your editor? Don’t you think he must apologise for it? @supriyapd Do you really have such unfairly prejudiced people working in your organisation @aajtak?”
Dear @aroonpurie ji, Do you really endorse the classist, racist, xenophobe and casteist remark by your editor? Don’t you think he must apologise for it?@supriyapd Do you really have such unfairly prejudiced people working in your organisation @aajtak ? https://t.co/cvpG0Ph6Bg
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) May 2, 2019
This prompted Chaturvedi to issue a public apology as he wrote in broken English, “Dear @yadavtejashwi ji,i had no intent to disrespect your or anyones mother,I m rather surprised that people r spending so much time on misinterpreting a tweet to the disrespect of a mother,lady or even finding a caste angle in it.Sincere apologize but please do not misinterpret (sic).”
Dear @yadavtejashwi ji,i had no intent to disrespect your or anyones mother,I m rather surprised that people r spending so much time on misinterpreting a tweet to the disrespect of a mother,lady or even finding a caste angle in it.Sincere apologize but please do not misinterpret
— Nishant Chaturvedi (@nishantchat) May 3, 2019
Unsatisfied with his apology, Tejashwi asked, “So what motivated you to spend your precious time in asking a former CM to pronounce a word? Have you ever asked any elite upper caste politician from ur pay master’s party who are less educated then my mother to pronounce a word? It reflects ur casteist, racist & classist mindset.”
In a seemingly disparaging tweet, Chaturvedi had implied that the former Bihar chief minister could not even pronounce the word ‘Twitter’ let alone being able to use the social media platform. This had evoked angry reactions from journalists and activists who questioned his casteist mentality and lack of respect for a mother.
बिहार की CM रही सीनियर नेता @RabriDeviRJD को शर्मिंदा करने की @AshwiniKChoubey और पत्रकार @nishantchat की कोशिशें तो यही साबित करते हैं कि वे लोकतंत्र और राजनीति को भी वर्ण व्यवस्था समझ बैठे हैं, जहां ‘उनके’ वर्ण के मर्दों के सिवा सबकी एंट्री बंद हो! वो दुनिया अब नहीं रहा जी! https://t.co/6WmCsIWIZR
— Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) May 3, 2019
These Anchors are actually display on News channel’s to attract more advertisement from Govt and BJP. Ofcourse they endorse such castiest and chauvinist post otherwise they would have taken some action or @nishantchat would have apologized for that. https://t.co/7tC3TpgddA
— Prashant Kanojia (@PJkanojia) May 3, 2019
अबे मनूवादी
व्याकरण मत देख अंतःकरण देख
एक नेता
एक पत्नी
एक माँ
एक स्त्री
एक बेहेन
राबडी देवीजी के ट्विट में नजर आती है
आप जैसे मनू के भक्तो ये कैसे समजेगा@yadavtejashwi https://t.co/1YRDsGNcSu— Dr.Jitendra Awhad (@Awhadspeaks) May 3, 2019
निशांत मेरे जूनियर रहे हैं. जी न्यूज में स्क्रीन के नीचे चलने वाला टिकर चलाया करते थे. मुझे नहीं पता था कि वे इस कदर महिला विरोधी और पिछड़ा विरोधी हैं. ग्रामीण महिलाओं के प्रति उनके मन में इतना बुरा भाव क्यों पल रहा है, इस पर उन्हें विचार करना चाहिए. उनमें अज्ञान का अहंकार है. https://t.co/eNb4IgmkIS
— Dilip Mandal (@dilipmandal) May 2, 2019
In February this year, Chaturvedi had become a butt of jokes after he posted a photo with a Rampuri knife to teach Pakistan a lesson just days after a suicide bomber had killed 45 CRPF soldiers in Pulwama.
