Shashi Tharoor Responds To Row Over Memorable Post After Wayanad Visit

New Delhi: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has responded to the social media backlash over his tweet describing a visit to landslide-hit Wayanad as “memorable”. Memorable, he has said, means something likely to be remembered 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 memories of a memorable day in Wayanad pic.twitter.com/h4XEmQo66W

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 3, 2024

The Congress MP yesterday visited areas devastated due to the landslides in Wayanad that have left over 300 dead and many others missing. A video he shared on social media shows him help unload relief supplies arranged by his office for those who have lost their homes in the calamity and are now in relief camps. He is also seen meeting the affected people about their situation and the difficulties they are facing.

Speaking to ANI, he said 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 an earlier 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 conversations with those affected sparked a row for its caption. “Some memories of a memorable day in Wayanad,” it said.

Several people, including BJP leaders, questioned his choice of the word “memorable” for describing a tragedy such as this. Senior BJP leader Amit Malviya, who heads 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”.