Trump celebrates Diwali, leaves out Hindus in tweet
Washington, Nov 14 : President Donald Trump celebrated Diwali at a White House ceremony but omitted mentioning Hindus in his Twitter greeting, and again in a corrected tweet after the gaffe was pointed out by outraged netizens.
Trump hosted Diwali celebrations in the historic Roosevelt Room of the White House which was attended by prominent Indian-Americans, Indian-origin administration and diplomatic officials.
Diwali was celebrated across the world on November 7.
In his first tweet, he forgot to greet the Hindus, for whom Diwali is the biggest festival in the calendar.
It was my great honor to host a celebration of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, in the Roosevelt Room at the @WhiteHouse this afternoon. Very, very special people! https://t.co/kQk7IvpSFo pic.twitter.com/tYlBABg4JF
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018
"Today, we gathered for Diwali, a holiday observed by Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains throughout the United States & around the world. Hundreds of millions of people have gathered with family & friends to light the Diya and to mark the beginning of a New Year," Trump said in a tweet as he posted along with a YouTube link of the White House event.
The alert netizens were quick in identifying that he missed greeting the 'Hindus'.
"It is a major Hindu holiday," CNN's Congressional correspondent Manu Raju said in a tweet. Trump soon deleted his first tweet, and replaced it with another one but again repeated the error.
"Today, we gathered for Diwali, a holiday observed by Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains throughout the United States & around the world. Hundreds of millions of people have gathered with family & friends to light the Diya and to mark the beginning of a New Year," Trump said in his second tweet which again missed mentioning the Hindus.
"So after initially not including Hindus in his first Diwali tweet, Trump deletes that tweet and reposts another message. And still leaves out Hindus..., Raju said, as he was joined by several others on the social media.
Soon, the president deleted his second tweet and came up with the third one.
It was my great honor to host a celebration of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, in the Roosevelt Room at the @WhiteHouse this afternoon. Very, very special people! https://t.co/kQk7IvpSFo pic.twitter.com/tYlBABg4JF
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018
"It was my great honour to host a celebration of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, in the Roosevelt Room at the @WhiteHouse this afternoon. Very, very special people! Trump said in his third tweet.
The White House did not respond to questions on the series of tweets by the president and the criticism that he did not mention the Hindus in his tweets.
"President Trump leaves out Hindus in Diwali tweets," Time magazine said in an article. Trump had also mentioned Hindus in his November 7 Diwali greetings.
"Known as the Festival of lights, Diwali is a joyous and spiritual time marked by many Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, the president had said in his Diwali greetings last week.
Uhh... What about Hindus? Also, you're almost a week late ? https://t.co/ZgQP3WN8gV
— Isha Modi (@IMishamodi) November 13, 2018
Aye you forgot the billion+ Hindus lol https://t.co/w74skZ5oDA
— Aman Sharma (@thesharma21) November 13, 2018
Did he just...forget Hindus.... https://t.co/jXB8xfGVeh
— sohni (@sohnianika) November 13, 2018
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Virudhunagar firecracker unit blast: Toll climbs to 25, Rs 5.5 lakh ex gratia announced
Virudhunagar (Tamil Nadu) (PTI): With most bodies charred beyond recognition, identification remains difficult, police said on Monday, as the toll in the massive explosion at a fireworks unit near Kattanarpatti here rose to 25.
The Virudhunagar district administration has announced Rs 5.5 lakh ex gratia to the kin of deceased.
The accident is one of the deadliest industrial disasters in the region in recent years.
"Bodies were so badly charred that we were able to identify mostly with jewellery that the victims were wearing," a police official told PTI.
He said that the families have not yet claimed the bodies due to the uncertainly in the identities.
The factory owner is absconding, he added.
The accident occurred at the Vanaja firecracker unit, owned by one Muthumanickam, which functions under the Vachakarapatti police station limits.
The unit is reportedly licensed by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), Nagpur.
Post-mortem reports have established that the 25 victims, include 22 women and three men, the police official added.
Eight workers, mostly women, are critically injured with 60 per cent burn injuries. Twelve others, including eight policemen, were injured in a second blast on Sunday evening while rescue operations were underway.
Rescue operations were severely hampered for hours, as unexploded materials continued to detonate.
A second blast at 7.20 pm, triggered as an earthmover was clearing debris, caused chaos and injured several responders, including a revenue official.
Meanwhile, sources said about 1,000 people, including the families of the victims and residents of nearby villages, are threatening a road roko, demanding the arrest of the owner of the factory.
Local eyewitnesses, including Ranganathan from the nearby Seervaikarampatti village, described hearing a massive blast that sent "thick black smoke" into the sky.
"Nothing was recognisable. We saw bodies being loaded four at a time into vehicles," he told PTI Videos.
Many of the deceased were from Seervaikarampatti village, with residents claiming that at least 20 victims belonged to their village.
Among those killed was 46-year-old Indrani, a veteran worker of 25 years.
"My mother was the sole breadwinner. My father is disabled and stays home. I have an MSc degree, but I’m working at a petrol bunk to help out, and we haven't even paid my brother's school fees yet," said Madhubala, Indrani’s daughter, while pleading for government employment assistance.
Virudhunagar Collector N O Sukhaputra confirmed that the unit was operating without permission on a rest day.
Preliminary findings suggest the blast originated in a chemical mixing shed, where nearly 40 workers were busy making crackers, a violation of safety norms that typically limit occupancy to four workers per shed.
"Had these workers followed primary safety norms, the casualties could have been minimal," a senior official stated.
Chief Minister M K Stalin has ordered a high-level probe and directed ministers to oversee relief efforts.
The tragedy follows a similar accident in Vembakottai just days earlier, which claimed four lives, intensifying calls for stricter enforcement of safety regulations in the district’s firecracker hub.
The explosion occurred at approximately 3.15 pm on Sunday. Although the fireworks industry is officially shut on Sundays, over 100 workers were reportedly engaged in production.
Later in the day, Sukhaputra said Rs 5.5 lakh ex gratia each has been finalised for the families of 25 persons killed in the explosion.
Speaking to PTI Videos, he said the ex gratia cheques are ready for immediate distribution to the legal heirs.
"Out of 25 deaths, we have finished conducting post-mortems on 22 bodies. Already we have cheques (that) are ready,” Sukhaputra said.
The announcement followed intense demands from grieving relatives for financial security and government employment.
