Ira Trivedi may have been sacked by Doordarshan after an uproar against her anti-Hindu statements took social media by storm

A self-proclaimed Yoga teacher, Ira Trivedi, has become the centre of a major controversy as it came to light that she runs a show at the national broadcaster, Doordarshan. The controversy erupted after her 2017 interview with News18 went viral. In that interview, Ira Trivedi had described beef as the ‘cheapest source of protein’. This comment was made in reference to beef ban. Apart from being an utterly wrong statement, it must be noted that this issue has been closely connected with the sentiments of the Hindu community. The Yoga teacher went on to elaborate further about beef in her interview and said that in a country with a huge problem of malnutrition, it would be unfair to take away the cheapest source of protein, for many communities, especially the Muslim community. Twitter users pointed out these remarks as anti-Hindu and wondered what Ira Trivedi was doing at Doordarshan, the country’s national broadcaster.

https://twitter.com/khushi2318/status/1154057436124209153

Her comments in 2017 had caused a furore yesterday, however, Ira Trivedi soon came out with a tweet in which she seems to have made an attempt to make up for the beef comment. She tweeted, “Everyone. I want to clarify a few things. Firstly I am a strict vegetarian and I strongly advocate and promote a vegetarian diet to all those practising yoga. Those following me on Instagram have seen my advocacy of a vegetarian diet.”

However, Ira Trivedi’s statement it did not help control the controversy that raged on social media as people demanded her removal from the Doordarshan show. Some of Ira Trivedi’s past tweets came out and Twitter users pointed out her prejudice against Hinduism. A tweeter user attached a screenshot of her past tweet, in which Ira Trivedi has said, “The Quran is a deeply progressive text! Modern day Hinduism is deeply regressive.” With this, many Twitter users cried foul about how the national broadcaster entered into contract with Ira Trivedi who is blatantly prejudiced against Hinduism and went as far as describing it as “regressive”.

https://twitter.com/khushi2318/status/1154043961058582528

Right-wing activist, Shefali Vaidya, exposed the comments that the “Yoga teacher” has made in the past. She tweeted, “Let me see, your statements were 1) Hindu women fear to go to temples as they think they will be molested. 2) Beef is cheapest source of protein 3) Quran is deeply progressive 4) Hinduism is deeply regressive. Were you born stupid, or did you achieve it in stages?”

Other popular right-wing activists including BJP volunteer, Vikas Pandey, also pointed her prejudice against Hinduism. He tweeted, “It’s unfortunate that @DDNational has to hire a Hindu hater like Ira Trivedi to propagate Yoga.  She can keep her fake apology and fake accent to herself. Just listen to her how deep-rooted her hate is.” He attached a video in which she can be once again heard calling modern-day Hinduism patriarchal in comparison to modern-day Islam, which she thinks is far more progressive. She goes on to say that every Hindu woman is at a “legal disadvantage”.

One can only wonder which modern-day Hindu personal law she has read up which made Ira Trivedi think so. The modern-day Hindu law which was enacted way back in the 1950s and moved way ahead of its time by giving men and women equal rights has made it highly progressive. Even a layman can say that Hindu women are not in any form of a disadvantage when it comes to personal laws. Maybe, even Ira Trivedi will not be able to explain which “legal disadvantage” she is talking about.

Following the massive controversy, Ira Trivedi made an attempt to take a U-turn with a standard retraction statement. She tweeted, “I also deeply cherish, respect and live by Hindu Dharma, please ignore any screenshots of tweets that may have been taken out of context. I respect all religions and texts, but Hinduism is at the heart of my practice.” However, much to her dismay, Twitter users did not really accept her apology.

https://twitter.com/Red__Wine1/status/1154326473584476160

The question which thus arises is what she is doing with Doordarshan. One cannot understand why the national broadcaster gave her a slot to run a show in the first place. The national broadcaster must be cautious to ensure that someone having what appears to be deeply prejudiced view about a particular community, is not endorsed on national television. Shashi Shekhar, CEO, Prasar Bharti, also took cognisance of this issue. He tweeted, “Thanks for your feedback. Marking this to DG Doordarshan @supriyasahuias to look into and reply.”

Later on DD National tweeted from its official handle, “Don’t miss #Yogabhyas with Yamini Muthanna, Friday morning at 6:30 am on @DDNational.” It must be noted that Ira Trivedi’s show is also scheduled for the same timing. From these developments, it seems likely that Ira Trivedi has been sacked although we are waiting for an official confirmation into this matter.