Union Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar recently visited the Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal and made some outrageous comments on Rabindranath Tagore.
Rabindranath Tagore was the founder of the university.
He said that Rabindranath Tagore was discriminated against by his family because of his complexion. He claimed:
Tagore’s mother and some other relatives would not hold him in their arms because he was ‘dark-skinned’.
Elaborating further on the colour of his skin, the minister said:
There are two types of fair skinned people. One that are very fair with a yellowish hue and those who are fair but with a reddish tinge.Tagore had the second type of skin tone. But that same person became world-famous.
His remarks have triggered an uproar on Twitter. Netizens are labelling the minister ‘illiterate’ for making such comments for a nobel laureate.
Political parties like TMC and students of the university have called his comments racist and insulting.