AK Antony’s Son Anil Antony Resigns From His Congress Roles
On Wednesday Anil Antony, the son of former Kerala Chief Minister A Okay Antony resigned from all his Congress roles in response to backlash over a tweet on the BBC documentary, ‘India: The Modi Query’ in regards to the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Anil Antony introduced his resignation by way of a tweet during which he claimed that the “wall of hate/abuse” on Fb over the identical situation and the “illiberal calls” to retract his tweet in opposition to the documentary had led him to make the selection.
On Wednesday morning, Anil took to Twitter and wrote, “I’ve resigned from my roles in @incindia @INCKerala.Illiberal calls to retract a tweet, by these preventing without spending a dime speech. I refused. @fb wall of hate/abuses by ones supporting a trek to advertise love! Hypocrisy thy title is! Life goes on. Redacted resignation letter under.” He additionally included a letter of resignation in his tweet.
In a portion of the redacted resignation letter Anil wrote that Contemplating the occasions from yesterday, he believes that it might be acceptable for him to go away all his roles within the Congress — because the Convener of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee Digital Media, and because the Nationwide Co-coordinator of All India Congress Committee Social Media and Digital Communications Cell.
He concluded by writing, ‘I would favor to proceed my different skilled endeavors with out being fed this negativity and being concerned in these damaging narratives, many in opposition to the very core curiosity of India. These, I strongly consider, will find yourself within the dustbin of historical past with time.’
Anil’s controversial viewpoint on the BBC documentary sparked robust objections. The resignation of Anil because the Kerala-based Congress IT cell’s coordinator was demanded by a number of leaders.
Whereas chatting with ANI, he said “I used to be talking from my conscience. No matter inside conflicts we might have, we shouldn’t permit them for use by international organizations to create division on this nation.”
Background of the controversy
Earlier on Tuesday, Antony tweeted on the BBC Documentary, “Regardless of giant variations with BJP, I feel these in India inserting views of BBC, UK state-sponsored channel with a protracted historical past of India prejudices, and of Jack Straw, the mind behind the Iraq conflict, over Indian establishments is setting a harmful priority, will undermine our sovereignty.”
In response to Antony’s tweet on Tuesday, state Congress president Okay Sudhakaran said, “Congress is dedicated to safeguarding the liberty of expression. The occasion will not be related to the opinions made by sure individuals. The Congress will display the documentary throughout Kerala. The ban on the documentary exhibits that Modi is afraid of the reality. Screening of the documentary can’t be depicted as anti-national exercise.”
The state management of the Youth Congress additionally spoke out in opposition to Antony, claiming that his viewpoint was subjective.
Responding to the controversy Antony mentioned, “Whoever is needs to be allowed to observe the documentary. However I strongly consider that no matter political variations you will have, you shouldn’t permit that for use as a software by exterior businesses in opposition to the broader nationwide pursuits. Nationwide pursuits are paramount.”
Controversy on the BBC Documentary
A number of political figures, together with the ministry of exterior affairs, criticized the two-part BBC documentary “India: The Modi Query” on the 2002 Gujarat riots, calling it a propaganda piece devoid of objectivity and a mirrored image of a colonial mindset.
The blocking of quite a few YouTube movies and Twitter posts that contained hyperlinks to the documentary was ordered final week by the union authorities.
The nation’s sovereignty, relations with different international locations, and public order, within the opinion of the federal government, are all in danger from the documentary.
The middle’s motion has been sharply criticized by Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC) as an try at “censorship”. Rahul Gandhi, the chief of the Congress, questioned the middle’s actions in blocking the movie’s distribution and screening.
College students Federation of India (SFI), the scholar department of the Communist Get together of India (Marxist), has additionally utilized for permission to indicate the documentary at Kolkata’s Presidency College on Friday.
The documentary was proven in a number of places all through Kerala, which prompted protest marches by the BJP’s Yuva Morcha.
