Chetan Bhagat faces backlash over 'what do historians do' tweet

Celebrated author Chetan Bhagat on Friday faced intense Twitter backlash following his controversial remarks on historians, who have come out strongly and protested against the Narendra Modi government over ‘rising intolerance’ and ‘highly vitiated atmosphere’ in the country.

Bhagat posted a tweet on Friday morning that read – “We had so many historians?, likely in the context of over 50 historians speaking out, which he then followed by asking, “What do historians do? I am genuinely curious. This happened. Then this happened. Then this. Ok work done for the day.”

The author’s remarks come in the light of more than 50 historians, including the noted Romila Thapar, voicing their protest against the “highly vitiated atmosphere prevailing in the country, characterised by various forms of intolerance”.

The author had earlier also mocked writers who returned their Sahitya Akademi awards in protest of the Dadri lynching and the murders of rationalists such as MM Kalburgi.

“Ok so am I also supposed to return my SahityaAcademy award? Oh wait. Haven’t got it yet,” Bhagat had joked earlier this month. 

Twitterati hit back at Bhagat over his question about historians. 

“Real historians do research, link excavation, manuscripts, inscriptions to find an order into things,” one Twitter user reminded the author. 

Another comment seemed to mock Bahgat over his role as a judge on a dance show. “What do authors do? I am genuinely curious. Judge one talent show, then judge one dance show. Ok work done for the day,” the post read.

After being swamped with reactions, Bhagat once again took to the social media networking site and wrote, “I respect all who have returned awards and their views,just clarifying how I feel as a writer here,before foreign media reaches conclusions.”

Image: @chetan_Bhagat/Twitter