Kochi, Aug 27 (DC): Shashi Tharoor, MP, on Sunday lent a hand to the section of Keralites who went for the jugular of TV anchor Arnab Goswamy for his alleged remarks about them as “the most shameless bunch of Indians I have ever seen” by listing out reasons why he is a proud Malayali in a series of tweets with hashtag ‘ProudToBeMalayali’.

“Our courageous social reform movements against caste oppression, led by heroes like Sree Narayana Guru, Mahatma Ayyankali, Chattampi Swami & others, make me #ProudToBeMalayali,” said a tweet by Dr Tharoor. “Our history of welcoming the distressed fleeing war-torn lands, our openness to new ideas & new faiths like Christianity & Islam, our history of religious harmony makes me ProudToBeMalayali,” he said in another.

A controversy erupted when Mr Goswami, leading a panel discussion the other day, said the news about the offer of financial aid by the United Arab Emirates to the flood-hit Kerala was the ‘fake news of the year’ and that those who criticised the government for refusing the ‘aid’ were “the most shameless”.

In a direct reference to Mr Goswamy, Dr Tharoor tweeted, “given the disgraceful attacks on Malayalis in general by some petty minds, it’s time for us to stand up for ourselves. Let’s evoke the reasons why we are #ProudToBeMalayali.”

While some backed Dr Tharoor’s call, some chose into invoke his past to taunt him on his right to be a proud Malayali. “Despite courageous social reform movements led by heroes like Sree Narayana Guru, Mahatma Ayyankali, Chattampi Swami & others, there is the IPL scam by Shashi Tharoor, the unresolved Sunanda Pushkar murder case, which do not make Malayalis #ProudToBeMalayali,” said a reply tweet.

“These proud Malayali's head would have hung in shame when Malayalis claimed to get crores of aid money, printed 'thank you posters' when none of it was announced,” said another. Some also questioned his decision to attend the funeral of his former boss and former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan when his home state was under the grip of an unprecedented deluge.