Shashi Tharoor's Tweet Of Picture With Women MPs Sparks Row, Minister Apologises

Shashi Tharoor Tweet sparks row: On Twitter, this morning the wordsmith Shashi Tharoor chose the word "attractive" to describe his workplace in his caption for a selfie with six women Members of Parliament (MPs) in India. His choice of words did not go down well with the netizens and several people pointed out the casual sexism in the tone. Later, the MP post an apology and a clarification for his earlier post.

Tharoor, the member of parliament from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala is best known for his mastery of the English language. Unfortunately, it did not come to his rescue as netizens on Twitter pointed out that Tharoor's caption, "Who says the Lok Sabha isn't an attractive place to work? With six of my fellow MPs this morning: @supriya_sure @preneet_kaur @ThamizhachiTh @mimichakraborty @nushratchirps @JothimaniMP."

Who says the Lok Sabha isn’t an attractive place to work? With six of my fellow MPs this morning: ⁦@supriya_sule⁩ ⁦@preneet_kaur⁩ ⁦@ThamizhachiTh⁩ ⁦@mimichakraborty⁩ ⁦@nusratchirps⁩ ⁦⁦@JothimaniMP⁩ pic.twitter.com/JNFRC2QIq1

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 29, 2021

In the picture, he was seen posing with the women MPs from across party lines as the Winter Session of Parliament began today. The picture included Baramati MP Supriya Sule, Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, South Chennai MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian, Jadavpur MP Mimi Chakraborty, Basirhat MP Nusrat Jahan and Karur MP S Jothimani.

Soon, comments started coming on how this "attractive" word reeks of casual sexism at the workplace.

An Indian Journalist Vidya Krishnan commented, "Women in the Lok Sabha are not decorative items meant to make your workspace "attractive". They are parliamentarians and you are being disrespectful and sexist."

An independent journalist, Sayantan Ghosh wrote, "Dear @ShashiTharoor these MPs are parliamentarians, they represent people. Women are not items that are needed to make any place attractive. I know u don't need a dictionary but this time please check the following words 'sexism' and 'casual sexism."

An architect, Seetu Mahajan Kohli said, "I work in a man's world. People always say that I make construction sites glamorous! You can be great at your work and on top of that attractive too, a privilege reserved only for women, fortunately. Nothing wrong with what he said. (emoji) @sharmareskha."

Seeing the outrage over  his choice of words, Tharoor posted another tweet, one hour later. This time clarifying and apologises for his earlier post. "The whole selfie thing was done (at the women MPs 'initiative) in great good humour and it was they who asked me to tweet it in the same spirit. I am sorry some people are offended but I was happy to be roped in to this show of workplace camaraderie. That's all this is."

The whole selfie thing was done (at the women MPs' initiative) in great good humour & it was they who asked me to tweet it in the same spirit. I am sorry some people are offended but i was happy to be roped in to this show of workplace camaraderie. That's all this is. https://t.co/MfpcilPmSB

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 29, 2021

(Feature Image Credit: Shashi Tharoor Twitter)

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