Karnataka minister Santosh Lad has sparked a major controversy after showing a middle finger while reacting to remarks by US President Donald Trump, who recentlyreferred to India as a "hellhole". The incident took place during a press conference in Ballari’s Sandur, where Lad criticised the comment as an insult to the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During the interaction, Lad condemned Trump’s remarks and also targeted the Centre for what he described as a muted response.
"He (Trump) has insulted our Prime Minister, and of late, recently, he has told hellhole, he has called India a hellhole. Mr. Trump, you are a Mad Max. I know you are the President of America, doesn't mean that you can speak whatever you want to speak about my country. I really want to condemn the way you are told about my country. I can show you a middle finger also, but from this very particular platform, we stand united and say, please, Trump, go ahead," Lad said, as quoted by a report by India Today.
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The controversy stems from a post shared by Trump on Truth Social, where he endorsed content criticising birthright citizenship in the United States. The post, linked to conservative commentator Michael Savage, described countries including India and China as "hellholes on the planet".
India responded swiftly, with the Ministry of External Affairs calling theremarks "uninformed, inappropriate, and in poor taste".MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "They certainly do not reflect the reality of the India-US relationship, which has long been based on mutual respect and shared interests".
The US Embassy later sought to ease tensions by qpointing to Trump’s earlier statements describing India as a "great country" and reaffirming strong bilateral ties.
Meanwhile, Mallikarjun Kharge questioned the government’s silence, asking whether it would respond to what he termed an "indignation" faced by Indians.
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Sudhanshu Mishra is a Senior Copy Editor at Times Now. While his day-to-day work centres on news, his writing interests lie in the intersections of cu...View More
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