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Singer TM Krishna reacts to Rahul Gandhi's nightclub video: 'We are racists'
Reacting to the video, many, including politicians, claimed on social media that the woman is a Chinese national and have been criticising the leader.
Carnatic musician and activist TM Krishna on Wednesday joined the latest row over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after a video of him from a nightclub in Nepal's Kathmandu went viral. Taking to Twitter, the musician pointed out the issue of racism and how Indians are ignorant of the various Asian ethnicities.
"To me, it is irrelevant whether the lady at the pub was a Chinese diplomat. But what is obvious is that, to Indians, Chinese, Nepalis, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, even people from Nagaland or Meghalaya are all the same. I will not use the commonly used slur! We are RACISTS," he wrote on the microblogging site.
A political slugfest has erupted in the country after a video showed Gandhi in a nightclub in Kathmandu. The Congress leader is also seen standing beside a woman with Asian features. Reacting to the video, many, including politicians, claimed on social media that the woman is a Chinese national and criticised the leader.
In a tweet, YSRCP leader V Vijayasai Reddy also claimed that the Congress leader was with the Chinese ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanki. "Video of Rahul Gandhi partying in a Nepal nightclub with Chinese diplomats is disturbing as China's honey traps are rising. Hou Yanqi, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, was also spotted with him. Congress unnecessarily questions Narendra Modi Ji's Europe trip while its own leader does this!" Reddy's tweeted.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT department head Amit Malviya also questioned Gandhi, saying "why he has ties only with those who are challenging India's territorial integrity". In his tweet, Malviya also underlined Sumnima Udas, a Nepalese diplomat's daughter, "actively supports Nepal's claims over regions of India's Uttarakhand."
"From China to Nepal, why does Rahul Gandhi have ties only with those who are challenging India's territorial integrity?" he also said on the micro-blogging site.
Gandhi had gone to Nepal to attend the wedding of a journalist friend, Sumnima Udas.
Defending Gandhi, Congress national spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said "it is not a crime to attend weddings of family members and friends as it is part of our culture".
"Rahul Gandhi has not gone as an uninvited guest like Prime Minister Narendra Modi had gone to Pakistan to celebrate the birthday and cut cakes for the then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif. Rahul Gandhi has gone to a friendly country Nepal to participate in a private marriage function of a friend. By chance, the friend also happens to be a journalist," said Surjwala.
(With agency inputs)
