A section of the Indian diaspora in Germany has raised strong objections over inviting Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya as a speaker guest at the Indian startup conference 2020 in Hamburg. The event is scheduled to be held on October 7 by the Consul General of India in partnership with GloMan Consulting GmbH.
In a letter addressed to the Consulate General, the community has written that it was “disheartening to see its speaker list include Tejaswi Surya, a highly provocative and communal politician from Bangalore, seasoned by the RSS.”
The letter has been signed by India Solidarity Germany, Chennai Solidarity Group, The Humanism Project, Solidarity Belgium, Indians Against CAA, NRC and NPR – Finland, Bharath Democracy Watch, Indian Alliance Paris, and Foundation The London Story. It has been circulated for more signatures.
To make their point, the community posted four of Surya’s controversial tweets which were communal in nature.
They also brought up the issue of Tejasvi’s infamous “puncturewalla” speech which he gave at a pro-CAA rally in Bengaluru.
Speaking in December, 2019, Tejasvi had said, “People of Bengaluru’s IT sector, BT sector, those contributing to the nation’s economy like lawyers, bank employees, ordinary citizens including auto-rickshaw drivers have gathered here today. Only the uneducated, illiterate puncture shop wallahs are against it.” At that time Tejasvi was criticised for referring to the minority and Dalit community in demeaning way.
Quoting these, the letter asks, “Tejaswi Surya’s highly controversial and communal views are publicly available. Does the consulate also endorse his following views where he openly plays communal politics and calls for the government to favor a particular religion?”
“We will also raise this concern to other European progressive bodies and human rights institutions to limit platforms to people who are out rightly bigoted, misogynistic and take shelter behind freedom of speech to spew hatred against particular communities. We will really appreciate your actions toward holding and promoting the idea of progressive and pluralistic India by not hosting a polarizing figure,” the letter mentioned.
Recently Surya has been made the president of the party’s youth wing- Yuva Morcha.