If you happened to scroll Twitter today, you’d be surprised that one of the trending terms is Rabindranath Tagore. However, the reason is a little unusual. During a visit to Visva Bharati University, education minister Subhas Sarkas sparked a row when his controversial statement around Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s complexion baffled people.

He exclaimed that Tagore’s mother treated him differently because of his dark complexion. "Tagore's mother and some other relatives would not hold him in their arms because he was 'dark-skinned. There are two kinds of fair complexions. One that was bright yellowish and the other that was reddish. Tagore was fair but of the second variety and therefore was cuddled by his family less often than other fairer children," the minister claimed.

© Twitter

A lot of people have questioned this claim and want to understand how an education minister can make such assumptions.

Our new MOS Education Subhas Sarkar who is also a BJP MP from Bankura has claimed today that Tagore was dark skinned, so he was highly neglected in his family.

Fact: Tagore was not dark skinned and there is no evidence to suggest that he was neglected because of his skin colour

After getting a lot of flak, the Union minister claimed that his words would only elevate the Nobel Laureate’s respect further and that it was all taken in a wrong context. Well, our ministers should watch what they say and maybe thinking out loud was not a good idea after all. 

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