A day after a resident of Nagpur was booked to call Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray ‘baby penguin,’ the #BabyPenguin hashtag is number three on Twitter trends around the world.
Meet the Muhammad Azam Shah of Maharashtra aka baby Penguin aka @AUThackeray son of Modern day Aurangzeb @OfficeofUT who insults Hindu Dharma in Pandharpur by leaving Pooja Darshana half this same man have faith and time for Dargha Visit & for date with @DishPatani #Shame pic.twitter.com/E99ufmwL9y
— Sameet Thakkar (@thakkar_sameet) July 1, 2020
Sumeet Thakkar was arrested Wednesday after posting a series of derogatory tweets against Aaditya, chief minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray and minister of energy Nitin Raut. On 1 July, in one of those tweets, he called Uddhav ‘modern-day Aurangzeb’ and Aaditya ‘baby penguin.’
Several people joined the bandwagon on Twitter, mocking Aaditya at the comparison.
Supporter of BJP and author Shefali Vaidya also targeted at minister Shiv Sena.
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 one of them is Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He named the Shiv Sena duo derogatory names again after the complaint, and said they won’t bully him.
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
Charges pending against Thakkar
Thakkar has been charged under Sections 292 (obscene acts or words in public), 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act (publishing or transmitting obscene content in electronic form).
Thakkar has frequently posted on Twitter since the charges were filed, reiterating that he would not be threatened by the legal proceedings against him.
This is by the way not the first time Aaditya is associated with a penguin. Last year, before the coalition of Maha Vikas Aghadi, the National Congress Party released a cartoon criticizing the treatment of the Maharashtra drought by the Shiv Sena. The picture had a penguin sitting on the shoulder of Aaditya.
Thakkar also related to earlier cases of political name-calling and how no charges were brought against them. He noted that Sanjay Nirupam, leader of the Congress, had called PM Modi ‘Aurangzeb’ once.
In another case, he noted how CM Uddhav had called Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and former members of the “Afzal Khan Army” CM Devendra Fadnavis
