Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb seems to have failed to take lessons from his previous gaffes. The Chief Minister has now claimed that Rabindranath Tagore had returned his Nobel Prize to protest against the British rule in India.
“Rabindranath Tagore had given away his Nobel Prize in protest against the British,” Deb is seen telling his audience in a video being circulated in the social media.
Deb was speaking at a function in Udaipur to mark Tagore's birth anniversary.
Tagore did receive the Nobel Prize in 1913. Deb had apparently confused the fact with Tagore's refusal to be knighted in protest against the Jalianwalla Bagh massacre in 1919.
Here are six other instances when the Tripura CM kick-started a controversy by making irresponsible remarks:
Nails of my govt's critics should be pulled out: In a recent video that had gone viral on social media, Biplab Deb was heard saying that nails of his government's critics should be pulled out.
Comparing his government to a bottle gourd that gets rotten due to repeated digging of nails, Biplab said that he will not allow this to happen with his government.
" If someone pierces or interferes, his nails should be pulled out. No one can touch my government,” Biplab is heard saying in a video that surfaced on Monday.
#WATCH Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb says, "Mere sarkaar mein aisa nahin hona chahiye ki koi bhi usme ungli maar de, nakhoon laga de. Jinhone nakhoon lagaya, uska nakhoon kaat lena chahiye" pic.twitter.com/bht51upsmX
— ANI (@ANI) 1 May 2018
Buddha walked to Japan and Burma: Speaking at a programme in Agartala, Deb recently said Gautam Buddha walked across India and went to countries like Japan, Myanmar and Tibet to spread the message of peace and harmony.
There is no evidence that he himself travelled to these countries. "Buddha didn't travel to either of these countries during his lifetime. Buddhism spread to these places much later through other people," Subhas Ranjan Chakraborty, a former professor of history at the erstwhile Presidency College in Calcutta told The Telegraph.
Open paan shops or raise cows, don't chase govt jobs: The BJP leader, in a bizarre career advice to jobless youth of his state, suggested that they should set up paan shops and rear cows instead of chasing government jobs.
"The youth here runs after political parties for several years to get a government job and wastes the vital time of their life, had the same youth instead of running after parties set up a paan shop he would have by now had a bank balance of Rs 500,000," said Deb.
Mechanical engineers shouldn't join civil services: The Tripura CM had recently said that Mechanical Engineers should not go for civil services.
“One should not opt for civil services after studying mechanical engineering. Civil engineers have the experience and knowledge to help build administration and society. Civil engineering gives that kind of knowledge.”
Internet existed in the days of the Mahabharata: Speaking at a function on April 17, 2018, Deb had claimed that Internet and satellite communication existed in the days of Mahabharata.
"Internet and satellite communication had existed in the days of Mahabharata. Sanjaya (the charioteer of king Dhritarashtra) using the technology gave a detailed account and description to the blind king about the battle of Kurukshetra," Deb said while inaugurating a two-day workshop on computerisation of Public Distribution System (PDS).
He further said that Europeans and Americans were wrong in claiming internet as their invention as it was invented by Indians lakhs of year ago.
"How could Dhritarashtra see through Sanjay's eyes? There was technology available at that time... Internet was there, satellite communication was there," the 47-year-old Chief Minister said very confidentially and repeatedly.
International beauty contests were a farce: Questioning the rationale behind crowning Diana Hayden as Miss World 21 years ago, Deb claimed that the international beauty pageants were a farce as their results were predetermined.
"Whoever contested the international beauty pageants won. For five consecutive years, we won the Miss World/Miss Universe awards. Diana Hayden won it too. Do you think she should have won the title?" Deb had said.
These beauty pageant organisers are international marketing mafia, who spotted a huge market in the country. Today, there is a beauty parlour in every corner of the country," he said.