Media should not have gone on and on about racist remark: BJP

The national media should not have gone on and on about the usage of the word 'Negro' (wrongly spelt as 'Nigro') in documents tabled in the state assembly Wednesday, especially after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar apologised for it, a BJP spokesperson said Friday.

"A section of the media went overboard," BJP's state vice president Wilfred Mesquita told newspersons here.

A written reply tabled by the state home minister in the assembly Wednesday had referred to an as yet unidentified African native as a 'Negro', wrongly spelt as 'Nigro', a word which is considered racist.

Parrikar Thursday apologized for the error, blaming a police clerk for the mistake. He had also lashed out at the national media for picking on minor issues and had accused national news channels of slipping to low levels.

Parrikar had even questioned if former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal, who is being investigated for rape in Goa, was behind the avalanche of media coverage of the 'clerical error' by the chief minister's department.

Calling Parrikar one of the most friendly and accessible chief ministers, Mesquita said it was wrong of the national news channels to go on and on about the accidental racist remark, especially when he "had already apologized".

Mesquita also said the Bharatiya Janata Party got a walkover during the recently concluded monsoon session because the "weak and pitiable opposition" simply could not get its act together.

Commenting on the proceedings of the recently concluded monsoon session of the state legislative assembly, Mesquita said the nine member Congress, the principal opposition party, and two independent MLAs who voted against government resolutions were "pitiable" as opposition benchers in the 40-seat house.

"It was pitiable because they had no issues to put before the government. Either they were not aware of what was happening around them or they had not studied... Some of them made personal attacks. It was pathetic," Mesquita said.