Adhir Ranjan's "We Have Negrito" Quip Lands Congress In More Trouble
NDTV
On Wednesday an excerpt from Sam Pitroda's interview with The Statesman was circulated online, in which he described India as a "... diverse country... where people in the East look like Chinese".
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's "we have Proto Australoids... Mongoloid... Negrito (in India)" comment - referring to now-outdated racial and anthropological groupings of humankind - triggered a fresh row Thursday, a day after Sam Pitroda's "North Indians look like white (people)... South Indians look like Africans" remark spawned a furious pushback from the BJP and accusations of disrespecting Indians based on skin colour. Adhir Ranjan crosses the limitsIn defending Sam Pitroda he calls Indians (Negro or Negrito/Negrita )Safed, Kala !Both words are offensive https://t.co/YSzE7DaJAXIt shows that the words are Sam Pitroda but soch is of CongressCalling Indians as Chinese / African/… pic.twitter.com/9v0Uf0ChEd
"We have Proto Australoids, Mongoloids, (and) Negrito class of people. Hai to hai (It is how it is) ... in the demography of our country, regional features are different. What someone said (referring obliquely to Mr Pitroda's comment) is his opinion..." Mr Chowdhury said."But it is true some people are white...and some are dark."
Mr Chowdhury's statement - seen as an attempt to defend Mr Pitroda after his racist remarks - has been slammed by the BJP, with Shehzad Poonawalla also dredging up the row over the Bengal Congress boss' comments about President Droupadi Murmu in July 2022.
