Mrinal Pande, group editor of Congress mouthpiece National Herald, yesterday took to Twitter to mock the traditional Arunachal Pradesh headgear worn by Prime Minister Modi, showing disdain for the culture of the North East.
Once more !! pic.twitter.com/Nv3yHpXQ0q
— Mrinal Pande (@MrinalPande1) February 9, 2019
Responding to a tweet (now deleted) by a Twitter user Ashish Mishra, who had mocked PM Modi’s traditional Arunachal headgear by referring to PM Modi as a peacock, Pande responded with a picture of a rooster edited to make it appear as if it was wearing a suit.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu took to Twitter to explain that the headgear worn by PM Modi is a Nyishi tribal headgear.
This is a Nyishi tribal headgear of Arunachal Pradesh, which PM Modi is wearing during his visit yesterday at Itanagar. Don’t let hatred or intolerance overpower your sanity! https://t.co/TZInolGgai… pic.twitter.com/35LBqcGoOY
— Pema Khandu (@PemaKhanduBJP) February 10, 2019
Following this, the Twitter user later deleted his tweet.
However, Mrinal Pande was called out for her callous attitude towards the culture of Arunachal.
किसी राज्य की पारम्परिक वेशभूषा का मजाक उड़ना यह दर्शाता है आपकी नीच हरकत और विकृत सोच। अरुणाचल के सरकारी कार्यक्रमों में पारंपरिक हॉर्नबिल टोपी (हेडगेयर) जिसे ब्योपा (Byopa) भी कहते हैं उसी ब्योपा को मुख्य अतिथि व विशिष्ट अतिथियों को उपहार स्वरूप भेंट करना वहां की परंपरा है।
— Alok Kedia, FCA ?? (@alok_kedia) February 10, 2019
In August last year, in an attempt to mock Prime Minister Modi, senior Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor had called the PM Modi’s Naga headgear ‘outlandish’ which did not go down too well with many. Senior BJP leaders like Kiren Rijiju and Himanta Biswa Sarma had even demanded an apology from Congress for insulting the people of North East and the tribals.