Controversy's favourite child has done it again, writer and columnist Shobhaa De is adept at putting her foot in her mouth. This time it is body shaming, although she has ventured into the territory before. De on late Tuesday posted a picture of a stout policeman on Twitter with a caption 'Heavy police bandobast in Mumbai today!'
The columnist was referring to the Mumbai police cover during the BMC elections while making a snide joke on the officer's heavy build. The twitterati and the Mumbai Police were quick to shut her down for her 'irresponsible tweet', and rightly so.
We love puns too Ms De but this one is totally imisplaced. Uniform/official not ours. We expect better from responsible citizens like you. https://t.co/OcKOoHO5bX
— Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) February 21, 2017
De, last year, had stirred the controversy cauldron of body shaming by writing a piece on Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, during her trip to India. While criticising the Duchess' choice of dresses and her stylist, De said Middleton doesn't have the "derriere" and "curves" to do justice to a sari.
Khair, let's count our blessings, ji. Kate has skipped wearing a saree. Her waist is perfect for crinoline ball gowns from "Gone with the Wind". But a saree needs curves. A saree demands a derriere. Kate has none. Thank God, some misguided fashion guru has spared her and us so far.
And these aren't the only two instances where the columnist took leave of her sense of decorum. There have been many instances where she has come up with inappropriate and outright crass observations drawing immediate rebuke from the social media.
De, last year, had taken a shot at the Indian athletes accusing them of just "taking selfies" and coming home 'empty handed' from Rio Olympics.
.@DeShobhaa Ma'am, with undue respect, I feel u could've got us a gold medal, but sadly uttering bullshit all day isn't an Olympic sport yet
— The-Lying-Lama (@KyaUkhaadLega) August 8, 2016
De also recently advised the External Affairs Minister Shushma Swaraj, who is known for helping stranded citizens on Twitter, to stop tweeting as one of her New Year resolutions.
Sushma Swaraj : Resolution for 2017 - Keep calm and stop tweeting.
— Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) January 13, 2017
Even though De receives a lot of flak from the netizens, she doesn't seems to care. It appears that she revels in the attention her tweets get, as they do go viral, albeit for all the wrong reasons. Maybe we all should take a cue from Mumbai Police's tweet of being responsible citizens and just shun De's tweets for the general good of the society, and not give them undue attention.
Considering we cannot stop De from spouting her insensitive observations on the social media, we have six words for you to save yourself the ordeal of going through her tweets 'Keep Calm and Ignore Shobhaa De.'
