Mumbai: IAS officer pens heartfelt poem to clarify stand on Bapu tweet

MUMBAI: Once again clarifying her stand over the controversial tweet on the fading Mahatma Gandhi’s image and influence from the public sphere, former joint municipal commissioner Nidhi Choudhari took to social media to pen down an emotional poem on how the tweet was a sarcastic jibe at Nathuram Godse fans.
In her poem, she says that she was “pained” by the criticism, but will continue writing till people understood her. “Kyunki likhna haq hai mera, main likhungi, kyunki na ghabraye mujhe andhera...(Because writing is my right, I will write; I am not scared of the darkness).” She ended her post on Facebook with a disclaimer stating: “Views are deeply and purely personal. Not written in official capacity. Infer the intended meanings. Don’t jump to conclusions without reading every word of the poem.”

In the poem, Choudhari, who recently had a baby, also commented on the three-day ‘tamasha’ over her tweet. “Aur yaha mujhe manzoor nahi, itni bhi main majboor nahi. Aisa na mujhe pad ka moh ki atmasamman par hone du var. (This is not acceptable to me, I am not so helpless too. I am not so attached to my position that I will allow my self-esteem to be attacked).”
A 2012 batch IAS officer, Choudhari had, on May 17, tweeted: “What an exceptional celebration of the 150th birth anniversary year is going on. High time, we remove his face from our currency, his statues from across the world, name institutions/roads named after him! That would be a real tribute from all of us! ThankU Godse for 30.01.1948.” She later deleted the tweet saying it was “misunderstood”. On Monday, she was transferred to the water supply department as deputy secretary and served a show-cause notice.