Shashi Tharoor confuses Buddha with Mahavir

Author and diplomat-turned-politician Shashi Tharoor was left embarrassed after he posted a picture of Lord Buddha while wishing his followers on Mahavir Jayanti. Congress MP from Kerala, Tharoor, whose latest book ‘Why I am a Hindu’ recently hit stands, was trolled for the error. He first defended, but later conceded, and instead of deleting the tweet, the politician said he was choosing to leave it up, explaining that “honesty is always the best policy”.

Mahavir Jayanti is the most important festival for the Jain community, and marks the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir, the last Tirthankara or spiritual teacher.

To defend his tweet, Tharoor pointed to the source of his image, tweeting: “Here’s the source for my picture, a Hindi newspaper website. Authentic, accepted alternatives most welcome. At least, thanks to my apparent error, a lot more people are tweeting on Mahavira than they would otherwise have!” 

It turned out that Tharoor wasn’t the only one who had made this mistake. Dimple Yadav, Samajwadi Party’s MP from Kannauj and wife of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, also tweeted a picture of Buddha instead of Lord Mahavir to her followers.

Why Tharoor Is Not A Jain? 

• The author posted a picture of Gautam Buddha to wish his followers on Mahavir Jayanti
• He first defended his stand by pointing to the source of the image — a Hindi newspaper website