Former Indian cricketer Venkatesh Prasad stripped pro-Congress Mint journalist Abhishek Baxi after he ridiculed him, insinuating that Prasad was a BJP operative. Baxi insinuated that Prasad was a BJP operative on Twitter, quoting a tweet in which Prasad called out those who were engaging in whataboutery on a previous tweet in which he condemned the hanging of an effigy of ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
Baxi, quoting the tweet by Venkatesh Prasad wrote, “Why don’t you call Jay Shah directly and work it out instead of sending these feelers?”
Why don’t you call Jay Shah directly and work it out instead of sending these feelers? https://t.co/i4pTVhMrw6
— Abhishek Baxi (@baxiabhishek) June 12, 2022
To that, pulling Abhishek Baxi, Prasad quoted his tweet and wrote, “Why do you flaunt your stupidity and polish your ignorance and make it shine further instead of learning not everything in this world works according to your stupid assumptions and hallucinations.”
Why do you flaunt your stupidity and polish your ignorance and make it shine further instead of learning not everything in this world works according to your stupid assumptions and hallucinations. https://t.co/GHg7MJpAXp
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) June 12, 2022
Again, Baxi quoted Prasad’s tweet and wrote, “Calm down, Mr. Prasad. My tweet, in fact, was quite respectful because if you’re peddling what you are without any expectations, it really is embarrassing.”
Calm down, Mr. Prasad.
— Abhishek Baxi (@baxiabhishek) June 12, 2022
My tweet, in fact, was quite respectful because if you’re peddling what you are without any expectations, it really is embarrassing. https://t.co/gEmsa9gsaN
To which, Prasad underscored Baxi’s allegiance to the Congress and gave a befitting reply to Abhishek Baxi, writing, “Stop embarrassing yourself Mr. Baxi. If upon speaking ones heart and mind, you by your intolerance you put your stupid allegations, by that logic the kind of blind licking you have been doing for years, you should have been Congress President by now. BUT such things don’t work.”
Stop embarrassing yourself Mr. Baxi.
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) June 12, 2022
If upon speaking ones heart and mind, you by your intolerance you put your stupid allegations , by that logic the kind of blind licking you have been doing for years, you should have been Congress President by now.
BUT such things don’t work https://t.co/CaYdGBIcGU
This comes after Venkatesh Prasad voiced his displeasure and condemned the hanging of an effigy of ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma outside a mosque in Belgavi, Karnataka, over her remarks regarding Prophet Muhammad in a tweet on Sunday.
Earlier, Prasad voiced his dismay at the hanging effigy in a tweet, saying he couldn’t believe this was India in the twenty-first century. He had pleaded with everyone to let rationality take precedence over politics. However, his plea for logic infuriated some ‘liberals,’ Islamists, and others, who, rather than agreeing to cease the violence and death threats, engaged in whataboutery.
Some even attempted to defend it by noting that political workers and cricket fans have both burned effigies. However, burning an effigy as a means of protest is not the same as hanging an effigy as a death threat and a message to others that if they hurt the religious emotions of one community, they would face the same destiny.
The former cricketer, frustrated by hardliners’ refusal to let rationality win, described it as crazy. He indicated explicitly that this effigy poses a threat to several people, not only Sharma. Notably, when the Taliban, an Islamist fundamentalist group, toppled the Afghan government, bodies were hanged from cranes for public display.
