On Thursday, the hashtag BabyPenguin was trending on Twitter, after a complaint was registered against a social media user calling Aaditya Thackeray a Baby Penguin.
Dharmendra Mishra, legal head of Yuva Sena, the youth wing of Shiv Sena, has filed a complaint against Sameet Thakkar, a Twitter user, for alleged derogatory tweets against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Tourism and Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray and Energy Minister Nitin Raut. An officer from V P Road police station said that they had registered an offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections of obscenity (292), defamation (500), and section 67 of the Information Technology Act.
According to the complaint registered with VP Road Police, Thakkar shared a photo on 1st July in which he allegedly referred to Aaditya Thackeray as ‘Mohammad Azam Shah of Maharashtra aka baby penguin.’ He also referred to CM as ‘Modern day Aurangazeb’ and posted a derogatory comment on Raut.
Mishra said he was shocked when he checked Thakkar’s twitter profile as Prime Minister Narendra Modi follows him. “It is not the first time Thakkar has used derogatory language against the state leaders. So I decided to complain to him and approached the V P Road police,” added Mishra.
Thakkar had posted a sarcastic video on 13th July and referred Aaditya Thackrey as ‘baby penguin”.
Sameer in a recent tweet said that while CM of Maharashtra can indulge in name-calling by referring to former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as “Man of Afzal Khan,” ordinary citizen gets booked for calling CM Modern Day Aurangzeb.
He @OfficeofUT can call @narendramodi @AmitShah @Dev_Fadnavis Man of Afzal khan army but we citizen cannot say him Modern day Aurangzeb? #HypocriteSoniaSena pic.twitter.com/JBziu2ScpN
— Sameet Thakkar (@thakkar_sameet) July 16, 2020
Why Aaditya Thackeray is called Baby Penguin
Aaditya Thackeray was given the nickname after his insistence to bring penguins in Mumbai Zoo. The administration spent around 2.5 crores on the project that included the cost of an artificial environment built for the flightless birds. Eight Humboldt penguins — Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive, Flipper, Bubble, Mr Molt and Dory — were brought from Seoul, South Korea, in 2016 to the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan, popularly known as the Byculla Zoo. It was known as a ‘pet project’ of Aaditya Thackeray, as he had led the project to bring penguins to Mumbai. But a few weeks later, one penguin “Dory” died due to bacterial infection, triggering a massive controversy.
The experts said that the bird died due to sudden change in the environment, and the zoo administration did not have the training and knowledge to handle such exotic birds. Several experts had also said that it was a bad idea to bring penguins to hot and humid India. Later, the first baby penguin hatched in India had also died.
Netizens raised voice in favor of Thakkar
While calling the complaint absurd, netizens have pointed out the hypocrisy of state government. A Twitter user Aarthi pointed out that several users regularly post derogatory tweets against PM Modi and enjoy their freedom, but BJP is termed as fascist. Another user pointed out that Aaditya’s father a political satirist and cartoonist. Some users urged everyone not to call Aaditya “Baby Penguin” sarcastically while one user pointed out that NCP used the same term for Aaditya before allying with them.
So how many lakhs of people should have been booked for calling PM all kinds of derogatory words??????
— Aarthi (@ss_aarthi) July 16, 2020
Mumbai: Man booked for calling Aaditya Thackeray ‘baby penguin’ | freepressjournal https://t.co/Dgwu9dszgI
Uddhav Thackeray totally forgot what his father was. He was a political satirist and cartoonist.
— Ashvattha 🌳 (@rockhearted_) July 16, 2020
Uddhav left his father’s ideology long ago. He might leave the surname too. #uddhavThackeray #SoniaSena https://t.co/jjUoQXwuOa
I condemned @PawarSpeaks for calling #BabyPenguin to @AUThackeray . Please don’t call BabyPenguin to Jr Thackrey. Respect and love him. pic.twitter.com/sTGjPo6Rux
— Farrago Abdullah (@abdullah_0mar) July 16, 2020
