On the occasion of Diwali yesterday (4 November), leaders and ministers of several countries wished people on social media. Leaders such as US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahindra Rajapaksa extended Diwali greetings.
However, the Chief Minister of Sindh, Pakistan, made an embarrassing gaffe when he tweeted Holi wishes on the occasion of Diwali.
Chief Minister of Sindh, Syed Murad Ali Shah shared a photo of himself on his Twitter account and wrote, “Happy Holi”. The tweet was soon deleted by the Sindh CM House handle since it was flagged.
However, the screenshots of the tweet are still being circulated widely on social media, drawing flak for the major slip made by the CM.
Senior journalist of Pakistan, Murtaza Solangi shared the tweet of the CM where the words, ‘Happy Holi’ are inscribed on a picture of the CM. Solangi shared the post on his Twitter handle and criticized the ignorance of the CM House Sindh. He said that in Pakistan, it is the province of Sindh that has the highest Hindu population and it is a sad state of affairs that the staff at CM House Sindh did not know the difference between these two major festivals.
https://twitter.com/murtazasolangi/status/1456160102533238784?s=20
The CM office was quick to rectify its mistake and delete the tweet. It also posted several messages supporting minorities in Pakistan from its official Twitter handle. Tweets stating that the CM, Syed Murad Ali Shah, wished the Hindu community a happy and joyous Diwali, were also shared by the CM House Sindh’s handle.
A tweet mentioned that the CM wishes everyone Diwali as it’s the festival of joys and lights.
Another tweet quoting CM Shah mentioned that Pakistan Peoples Party has been vocal about the protection of the rights of minorities. However, the tweets failed to do any damage control as the screenshots of the previous ‘Happy Holi’ tweet were already in the news by then.
Here is a look at the tweets shared by the CM House Sindh wishing everyone a joyous Diwali.
https://twitter.com/SindhCMHouse/status/1456156313285763073?s=20
https://twitter.com/SindhCMHouse/status/1456156372748361734?s=20
https://twitter.com/SindhCMHouse/status/1456156477375369221?s=20