Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s comment on Friday about girls drinking beer got Twitterati trolling him throughout the day on Saturday with the hashtag #GirlsWhoDrinkBeer.
Many women posted comments and photographs on the social media using the hashtag, making it the top trending issue on Twitter.
Appeals were made by some like Nishtha Gautam @TedhiLakeer: “Photos, ladies photos! Scan your phones and share #GirlsWhoDrinkBeer.”
CMD of Biocon @kiranshaw tweeted: “I didn’t expect such a gender biased comment from @manoharparrikar. If they are of a drinking age and do it responsibly, what has gender got to do [with it]?”
“Cheers all,” tweeted senior journalist Harinder Baweja displaying a mug of beer.
Coming as it did within days of Prime Minister Modi himself triggering a Twitterati war after his sarcastic comment over a guffaw in the Rajya Sabha by Ms. Renuka Chaudhary of the Congress during his speech, some were quick to see a trend.
Journalist @waglenikhil tweeted, “Women can’t laugh loudly and drink beer in Modi Rashtra!,” responding to a tweet by journalist Nidhi Rajdhan @Nidhi “Imagine a woman who drinks beer AND laughs loudly!”
Mr. Parrikar had made the comment at the inaugural of the first edition of the State Youth Parliament organised by the Legislature Secretariat on Friday. “I have begun to fear now, because even girls have started drinking beer,” he had said. “Today’s youngsters are crossing tolerance limits.”
Mr. Parrikar went on to say that the State government had launched a crackdown on drugs trade in the State. But he did not believe the narcotics menace had proliferated to a great degree in educational institutions.
Mr. Parrikar, an IIT-Bombay alumnus, said use of drugs in educational institutions was not a new phenomenon. “When I went to IIT, there was a small group which was involved in this ganja. So it is not today’s phenomenon. Even back then, there was a small group which was involved in these unwanted activities,” Mr. Parrikar said.
