New Delhi: Furkan Khan, a producer at the US-based National Public Radio (NPR), found herself at the centre of a Twitter controversy after she implied that if Hindus gave up Hinduism, they could solve their problems “what with all the piss drinking and dung worshipping”.
As she came under a wave of criticism, Khan deleted her tweet stating she didn’t want to be “misrepresented”, and apologised for hurting sentiments. She later resigned from NPR.
As people on Twitter called out Khan for her “bigotry” and apparent “Hinduphobia”, NPR clarified that Khan’s statement was “unacceptable”, and did not reflect their views.
“It regrets the unacceptable tweet by New Delhi producer Furkan Khan. This comment does not reflect the views of NPR journalists and is a violation of our ethical standards. She has publicly apologised for her tweet and has resigned from NPR,” the radio said in a statement.
https://twitter.com/Furkan_Khan/status/1171464858383990784
https://twitter.com/Furkan_Khan/status/1171620365790896130
From academicians to journalists, people on Twitter called out Khan for her “bigotry” and apparent “Hinduphobia”.
This was tweeted by @Furkan_Khan producer of @npr in New Delhi. This is what bigotry and hate speech mean. This is what the #Liberal jamaat of #India stands for.#Hinduism is not sullied by filth hurled at it. Sanatan Dharma and #Hindus have suffered far worse and survived. pic.twitter.com/dF1HUYOI7b
— Kanchan Gupta (@KanchanGupta) September 10, 2019
Is this what @NPR calls journalism? ?♂️ https://t.co/HNeoW3Lg9s
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) September 10, 2019
Hinduphobia is rampant & it's in your face. Bigots don't care & won't apologise. Becoz the so called liberals, & politically correct snowflakes will simply look the other way.
This woman btw is not an illiterate from the boondocks. She's the India rep of NPR pic.twitter.com/FXjscZLdCp— Smita Barooah (@smitabarooah) September 10, 2019
This is hinduphobia pure and simple. It is painful but not shocking. If @npr can only find a bigot to represent it in India then they are doing a great disservice to the ideals I used to think they stand for. Reject Bigotry. Hinduphobia is also bigotry. Hindu lives matter. https://t.co/JqAoduyOgT
— Sunanda Vashisht (@sunandavashisht) September 10, 2019
As someone who spent every day during his time in the US listening to @NPR I am saddened to see such bigotry from one of its employees. How can we build a world free from bigotry if even people working for the best companies behave like this? Please apologise @Furkan_Khan pic.twitter.com/sk69xrjXZ3
— HindolSengupta (@HindolSengupta) September 10, 2019
So @npr is fine with the rabid, bigoted, hinduphobic @Furkan_Khan? And she is apparently based in India? Seriously? We allow these jihadist terrorist types in this country? https://t.co/LLwRcXCab8
— sushant sareen (@sushantsareen) September 10, 2019
Others called for NPR to fire Khan for her remark. NPR News had earlier terminated the contract of news analyst Juan Williams after his racist remarks on the Fox News Channel about Muslims.
Insults Hindus, talks of conversion, glorifies Burhan, calls genocide of Hindus as ‘migration’, this woman is a real peach. @NPR must sack her. https://t.co/o4J3DBZblU
— Nupur J Sharma (@UnSubtleDesi) September 11, 2019
If @NPR doesn't fire her like they had done here https://t.co/j3dXcf0brK it will be proven, again, that Hinduphobia is an acceptable trait for them, which by default is for every left-leaning outfit. https://t.co/Adq31m0qty
— Rahul Roushan (@rahulroushan) September 11, 2019
This isn’t the first time that Khan has caused a stir with a controversial post. The producer once referred to the issue of Kashmiri Pandits as a “normal conflict collateral damage”.
If this was a better country you’d be running helter skelter explaining the lopsidedness of your concerns for human rights. Go sue yourself!
— Rahul Pandita (@rahulpandita) September 10, 2019
https://twitter.com/amritabhinder/status/1171659932107776002
This comes at a time when the international media is being accused of being anti-India. The government has refuted reports published by BBC, Washington Post and Reuters about large scale protests in Kashmir, and maintained that the law and order situation is under control.
This report has been updated to include NPR’s statement.
The hallmark of a progressive mind is that it is patently Hindu-phobic. Unless a person is Hindu-phobic, s/he is not sufficiently modern and secular.
They keep harassing the normally peaceful hindus and wonder why hindus lash back. Imagine if someone called muzzies paedo followers.