New Delhi: A day after a Nagpur resident was booked for calling Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray ‘baby penguin’, the hashtag #BabyPenguin is number three on the world Twitter trends.
It has been used in almost 15,000 tweets and has been trending since Thursday morning.
Sumeet Thakkar was booked Wednesday after he posted a series of derogatory tweets against Aaditya, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Energy Minister Nitin Raut. In one such tweet, he called Uddhav ‘modern-day Aurangzeb’ and Aaditya ‘baby penguin’ on 1 July.
https://twitter.com/thakkar_sameet/status/1278256033987584000?s=21
Several people on Twitter then joined the bandwagon, mocking Aaditya with the comparison.
BJP supporter and author Shefali Vaidya also took aim at the Shiv Sena minister.
I can understand baby penguins getting angry at this comparison, but why is @AUThackeray angry? #BabyPenguin pic.twitter.com/zoDNULy1xl
— Shefali Vaidya. (@ShefVaidya) July 16, 2020
Clockwise from top:
1. Emperor Penguin
2.Royal Penguin
3.Rockhopper Penguin
4. This one we don't know yet but we're considering 'Dynast Penguin ' .#BabyPenguin pic.twitter.com/Fkq1cBJNYs
— ᴍᴏᴄᴋɪɴɢ ᴡᴏʀᴅ (@yours_dearly) July 16, 2020
Thakkar has more than 43,000 followers on the micro-blogging site, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of them.
After the complaint, he once again called the Shiv Sena duo derogatory names and said he won’t be intimidated by them.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ho ya Hindu Hriday Samrat Balashaeb Thackeray every Maharashtrian citizen has always taken inspiration from them you Modern day Aurangzeb @OfficeofUT & your bay Penguin son @AUThackeray cannot intimidate ME #BringItOn pic.twitter.com/sDGC5C6Kky
— Sameet Thakkar (@thakkar_sameet) July 16, 2020
Also read: Aaditya Thackeray slams BJP for ‘rumour mongering’ amid a pandemic, says MVA govt stable
Charges against Thakkar
Thakkar has been booked under Sections 292 (obscene acts or words in public), 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act.
After the charges were filed, Thakkar has been regularly posting on Twitter, reiterating that he will not be intimidated by the legal action taken against him.
As a Citizen I will use all my democratic rights given to me by the constitution of our country. Do as much intimidation as you want Mr CM @OfficeofUT for me its water off a duck's back. @htTweets https://t.co/hiUhgKISTy
— Sameet Thakkar (@thakkar_sameet) July 16, 2020
Thakkar also referred to earlier instances of name-calling among politicians and how no charges were drawn against them. He noted that Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam had once called PM Modi ‘Aurangzeb’.
In another instance, he noted how CM Uddhav had called Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and former CM Devendra Fadnavis members of “Afzal khan army”.
He @OfficeofUT can call @narendramodi @AmitShah @Dev_Fadnavis Man of Afzal khan army but we citizen cannot say him Modern day Aurangzeb? #HypocriteSoniaSena pic.twitter.com/JBziu2ScpN
— Sameet Thakkar (@thakkar_sameet) July 16, 2020
Incidentally, this is not the first time Aaditya has been associated with a penguin. Last year, before the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, National Congress Party had posted a cartoon criticising the Shiv Sena’s handling of the Maharashtra drought. The image had a penguin perched on Aaditya’s shoulder.
Also read: ‘Baba, you have to accept the challenge’: Aaditya Thackeray said after Pawar wanted Uddhav as CM