Shashi Tharoor addresses controversy surrounding social media post following visit to Wayanad

New Delhi:

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has replied to the backlash on social media over his tweet portraying a visit to landslide-stricken Wayanad as “memorable”. Memorable, he has stated, denotes something probable to be recollected because it is “unforgettable”.

“For all the trolls: definition of ‘memorable’: Something that is memorable is worth remembering or likely to be remembered, because it is special or unforgettable. That’s all I meant,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP posted on X amid the row over his earlier post.

Some recollections of a remarkable day in Wayanad pic.twitter.com/h4XEmQo66W

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 3, 2024

The Congress MP yesterday visited areas ravaged due to the landslides in Wayanad that have left over 300 deceased and many others missing. A video he shared on social media displays him assist in unloading relief provisions organized by his office for those who have lost their residences in the catastrophe and are now in relief camps. He is also seen engaging with the impacted individuals regarding their situation and the challenges they are encountering.

Speaking to ANI, he mentioned his office had arranged some mattresses for those displaced by the flood. “But all of these are just urgent, immediate responses. We have to think in terms of long term as well,” he said.

In a previous post, Mr Tharoor described his visit to devastated areas in Wayanad as “emotionally searing”. “Picked my way through the rubble to view the destruction in the villages of Chooralmala, Mundakkai and Puncharimattam. Ground Zero was emotionally devastating – just imagining what it must have been like at 2 AM and 4 AM when families sleeping peacefully would have felt a fusillade of rocks and mud crashing into them, crushing their homes and their dreams,” he wrote.

Made an emotionally searing visit to the areas devastated by the #WayanadLandslide. Picked my way through the rubble to view the destruction in the villages of Chooralmala, Mundakkai and Puncharimattam. Ground Zero was emotionally devastating – just imagining what it must have… pic.twitter.com/AZP8SfOrGa

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 3, 2024

But another post in which he shared a video of his visit and dialogues with those affected sparked a controversy for its caption. “Some recollections of a remarkable day in Wayanad,” it said.

Several individuals, including BJP leaders, questioned his selection of the word “memorable” for depicting a tragedy such as this. Senior BJP leader Amit Malviya, who leads the BJP’s IT department, tweeted, “Deaths and disaster are memorable for Shashi Tharoor.”

Deaths and disaster are memorable for Shashi Tharoor. https://t.co/40zjGW6c0b

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 3, 2024

Another user described him as an “elite MP” and said he went to tragedy-hit Wayanad to have a “memorable day”. One user said Mr Tharoor has great vocabulary but using “memorable” when 300 people have died and many have lost their homes “hasn’t gone down well”.