Please sit out this one: Priyanka Chaturvedi says Navarro’s jibe was not a reference to ‘Boston Brahmins’

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro’s usage of the word Brahmin, that too in the Indian context, was not out of the blue, said Shiv Sena UBT Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi. This comes after some pointed out that Navarro saying ‘Brahmins profiteering at the expense of Indian people’ was not a reference to the caste but to ‘Boston Brahmins’, a class of wealthy, elite members of Boston society in the nineteenth century.

“The usage of the word Brahmin (yes elite Boston Brahmins US context am aware) by someone senior in US Administration cannot come out of the blue in India’s context, this was deliberate. So please sit out on explaining this one,” said Chaturvedi, without referring to anyone.

However, political leaders like Sagarika Ghose, Saket Gokhale, and Karti Chidambaram have come under fire for indicating that Navarro’s jibe was a reference to Boston Brahmins, and that Indian netizens were quick to jump to conclusions.

However, many responded to point out the unlikelihood of Navarro’s ignorance of using the word Brahmins in the Indian context even if he indeed was referring to Boston Brahmins. Many pointed out that the context of it all was important.

Moreover, the coinage of the term ‘Boston Brahmins’ also emerged from the Brahmin caste. It was coined by Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1860 for an article he had written for The Atlantic Monthly. He coined the term to draw parallels between the elites of New England and the priestly class of India in their importance as well as influence.

Navarro, in his latest, said, “Modi is a great leader. I don’t understand why he is getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping when it’s (India) is the biggest democracy in the world. So, I would just say to the Indian people: ‘Please, understand what’s going on here. You’ve got the Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people.’ We need that to stop.”

There was a sharp and quick backlash, with experts, critics as well as netizens calling him out for attempting to incite caste unrest in India. Netizens were also quick to point out the wild inappropriateness as well as inaccuracy of his statement.