Some new faces have been added to the team of PM Narendra Modi and KJ Alphons is one of them. He has taken the charge as the Union Tourism Minister and he has a piece of advice for the foreign tourists who are interested in visiting India – ‘Eat beef in your own countries and then come to India’.
He was speaking during the 33rd annual convention of the Indian Association of Tour Operators in Bhubaneshwar, the capital city of Odisha. Addressing a question which talked about the possibility of reduction in tourism and hospitality business due to the restrictions imposed on beef consumption and incidents of cow vigilantism, he said,
“They [foreigner tourists] can eat beef in their country and come to India.”
Just recently, the newly appointed minister said that citizens of Kerala would keep consuming beef. He said,
“As Goa chief minister, Manohar Parrikar, has said that beef will be consumed in the state. Similarly, it will be consumed in Kerala.”
When he was asked about his earlier comment, he responded,
“It’s a cock-and-bull story. I am not the food minister to decide on it.”
Twitter trolled the Tourism Minister for his statement and here are few selected tweets:
Angry Twitterati:
This man is our Tourism Minister. Yes, this idiot. Just one of the idiots thrust upon us by the moron we voted to… https://t.co/D3lflauvmc
— Sanjiv Bhatt (IPS) (@sanjivbhatt) September 8, 2017
Bloody hypocrite. As if he has never eaten beef his entire life. So long he was a nobody and now power has gotten into his head.
— Col. Nathan R Jessup (@sommersbye) September 8, 2017
Lol No! You should say eat those beef we are expprting to your country then come to India. #dunghead
— Xahid Khan (@ixahidkhan) September 8, 2017
Tourism Minister should welcome all and sundry:
Are u sure that u made our India beef free? Such statements show us in poor light. U being d tourism minister should welcome all and Sandy
— Kanumula Krishna Rao (@KanumulaR) September 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/CarDroidusMax/status/905892582168907777
It’s pathetic:
This is just pathetic. India chose BJP to govern the nation not to tell us what to eat and what not. Govts. must know their limits.
— Rahul Vicky (@RahulVicky) September 8, 2017
Condition of Modi Cabinet:
https://twitter.com/30nandkishore/status/906110618192691201
Be careful while voting the next time:
This is what happens when such kind of … becomes minister hope people r watching and next time will vote accordingly
— Vipin Raina (@raina_vipin) September 8, 2017
Elect a clown, expect a circus:
BJP govt is a daily dose of the saying 'Elect a clown, expect a circus'.https://t.co/MmXJ9TQRyD
— Assam Tweeter (@AssamTweeter) September 8, 2017
Very unprofessional statement:
Very unprofessional statement. Not sure what he wants to achieve with this. Female tourists are already scared to visit India alone!!
— Hitesh Kumbhat (@hiteshkumbhat07) September 8, 2017
LOL 😀
'Come to Goa to Eat Beef' can be Goa Tourism's new ad campaign.
— Lokesh Bherwani (@lokeshbherwani) September 8, 2017
Be rude to tourists now:
Now insult our tourists and be rude to them too. Stop being obsessed with beef. There's no need to make it into an issue for tourists!!!!
— Viveck Vaswani (@FanViveck) September 8, 2017
What about other important issues like safety and cleanliness?
https://twitter.com/sange_76728/status/906078986119163904
If the first thing India's tourism minister talks about beef instead of cleaning tourists spots, then ho liya sudhar.
— Nitin (@beingNitinJain) September 8, 2017
Mr Alphons, Kerala is not India. India is very large. Travel to other states too. Beef is no topic for a Central Minister. Talk tourism.
— Arun K Jain (@akjain2k9) September 8, 2017
The nation wants to know:
https://twitter.com/Shehzad_Ind/status/906035595297734656
There were some users who slammed journalists too:
This is the problem with u journalists.u want only half baked stories and make headlines.pls post d full interview.
— Sudheer Kamath (@sudheer_kamath) September 8, 2017
Media cannot catch the sarcasm in his speech & as usual taking the portion which benefits their agenda..Shame on Indian #Presstitutes Media
— Srinivas 🇮🇳 (Modiji Parivara) (@Nation_frst) September 8, 2017
Alphons stated that to increase the business of the tourism industry, his ministry is inviting new ideas to promote tourism. In his words,
“We are getting people to come and give us ideas and within a month, we will have a plan for action soon.”
What do you have to say about this statement of the Tourism Minister? Let us know!
