“People In East Look Like Chinese…People In South Like Africans”: Indian Overseas Congress Chief Faces Backlash for ‘Racism’

Having said that “people in the eastern part of India look like the Chinese,” Indian Overseas Congress head Sam Pitroda has now become involved in yet another controversy. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has denounced these remarks as “racist and divisive”.

Racist Remarks in the Office—Why Still?

As he was mentioning the diversity of India, Sam Pitroda—whom the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regards as Rahul Gandhi’s political mentor—was providing further background information. “One view centers around Ram Temple, god, history, heritage, bhagwan, Hanuman, Bajrang Dal and all kinds of issues… There is another group which says our founding father fought the British Raj, not for a Hindu Rashtra, but for a secular nation… We are the shining example of democracy in the world,” he said earlier this month in an interview with the newspaper The Statesman.

Sam Pitroda added that living in India allows people of varied appearances to get along well.

“We have survived seventy-five to seventy-five years in a genuinely happy environment where people have been able to live together, although having occasional arguments. We have the potential to be the glue that holds a nation as diverse as India together, where people in the East appear to be Chinese, people in the West appear to be Arab, people in the North appear to be, possibly White, and people in the South appear to be Africans. Ignorance of it… Everyone of us is a brother or sister,” he declared. “Whatever we are makes no difference.” The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) leader, Himanta BiswaSarma, fired back angrily, saying he is from the North East but “looks like an Indian.” This was a reaction brought about directly by the mistreatment. He mentioned that Sam Pitroda really has to learn more about India.

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X is Really the Platform that Exposes

Chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ravi Shankar Prasad called Sam Pitroda “a failure”.

Pitroda’s comments on X prompted a post from Assam Chief Minister that said, “Sam bhai, I am from the North East and I look like an Indian. Though we may not all look the same, we are all one country. Thoda to samajh lo hamare desh ke bare! (Develop some knowledge of our nation).” His comments were criticized by actress-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut, who is running in the Mandi Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket as “racist and divisive jibes.”

She declared, “Sam Pitroda is Rahul Gandhi’s guru. Hear his polarizing and racist comments on Indians. Dividing and ruling is the central theme of their philosophy. Having fellow Indians called Chinese and African is repulsive. Congress is to be ashamed of!” Pitroda created controversy last month when he discussed the “redistribution of wealth” issue and the US inheritance tax law. But the Congress recanted from his remarks as the BJP attacked the Indian Overseas Congress president harshly.