Author Devdutt Pattnaik on Saturday, January 15, took to social media platforms to tender an apology over derogatory and misogynistic tweets posted by him in the past. However, in doing so, he admitted to using rape as a tool to exact revenge.
The apology, which appeared insincere and meant to deflect criticism, came days after outrage swept the internet after he was invited by the Government of India as a speaker for a two-day event National Youth Festival that was organised on January 12 and 13. Many social media users asked the Centre to drop his event citing his old tweets that were vile and accusing in nature, following which his session had gone unavailable.
Seemingly responding to this controversy, Devdutt took to Twitter and apologised for his obnoxious old tweets, which appeared hollow after he shared a convoluted post on Facebook where he provided an explanation into what motivated him into posting misogynistic and abusive tweets.
Apologies for my obnoxious old tweets. That some will never forget. But I need to let go. Do read…..https://t.co/uSY2E9Uphv
— Devdutt Pattanaik (@devduttmyth) January 15, 2022
In his Facebook post, Devdutt quoted the Old Testament that called for an eye for an eye and said he was inspired by the said ideology that endorsed using rape as an instrument to exact revenge. Pattnaik ascribed quotes to a well-known ideologue accusing him of using rape as a political tool and declaring himself as a fan of that ideologue, but we are not naming the ideologue because Devdutt is known for lousy research work and often ends up spreading misinformation and lies.
In fact, in the same Facebook post, Devdutt even goes on to claim that there are some who believe that the ideologue had been misquoted and that he had not endorsed the use of rape as a tool to seek vengeance. However, he selectively shares some pictures of a book written by the ideologue and deceitfully takes them out of context to project his wrongdoing on him. He claims that he was inspired by that ideologue and the aforementioned ideology that advocated using rape as revenge when he made those derogatory and misogynistic tweets.
This lengthy and disingenuous explanation came days after social media websites were awash with outrage over his invitation to the Youth Festival organised by the Indian Government. Pattnaik was scheduled to speak on the first day of the event. However, a raft of social media users vehemently protested against his participation, drawing attention to his past tweets that were derogatory and vulgar in nature.
Devdutt Pattnaik suffers a meltdown after his Youth Festival session goes unavailable following outrage by netizens his vile, abusive old tweets
Netizens demanded his removal from the panel owning to his routinely abusive and obnoxious behaviour displayed on social media. Netizens tagged Anurag Thakur, Union Minister, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Youth Affairs and Sports, demanding him to take cognisance of the outrage and asking him how a person like Devdutt, who hurls sexist, misogynist and sexual abuses frequently on social media, could be invited to address the youth of the country in the festival.
Author and columnist Shefali Vaidya tagged Minister Thakur and said, “The problem with Devdutt Pattnaik is not just that he is a mediocre person who completely distorts our scriptures without even basic knowledge of Sanskrit. He is absolute filth who loves abusing people’s mothers. To hail this man as a ‘great mind’ is truly sickening!”
Radharamn Das, Vice President and Spokesperson ISCKON Kolkata, said, “How can Department of Sports MYAS [and] Anurag Thakur invite this abusive mental person to inspire youths at ‘National Youth Festival’ event? If these kinds of people are inspiring our youths, then only Bhagawan can save this country & civilization. Very shameful.”
Following social media backlash over the invitation extended to author Devdutt Pattnaik to speak at the government-organised National Youth Festival, the event where he was scheduled to attend had gone missing and unavailable. Kanchan Gupta, the Senior Adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, subsequently issued a tweet stating that there were technical difficulties because of which Pattnaik’s session cannot be streamed. This triggered a meltdown for the author, after which he launched into a deranged rant against Hindus who opposed and expressed their outrage over his invitation to the said event.
