Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is scared of cracking jokes in Delhi as the media, he believes, can misinterpret them, he said in Goa on Saturday.
His remark against the national media came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi opined there is no humour left in public life. While speaking at the golden jubilee celebration ceremony of the Goa Engineering College (GEC), Parrikar said:
I feel good to be here (in Goa). When I am in Goa, I can take the liberty of cracking jokes. In Delhi, I am a bit afraid to crack jokes because even if I joke... it can be misinterpreted and confusion can be created.
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Earlier in an interview to Times Now, Modi had said:
In this era of 24/7 news channels, anybody can lift a small word and make a big issue out of it. But I will tell you the truth, the reason for the absence of humour in public life is this fear. I am myself scared. Earlier when I used to make speeches, I would make it so humorous but there would never be any issues.
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The Defence Minister, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, also followed his critique of the national media with a joke he had first cracked in 2012 while inaugurating a women's hostel.
I remember in 2012, I was present at the inauguration of a girl's hostel. And my first sentence was that finally after 30-40 years, the dream of entering a ladies hostel came true.Manohar Parrikar, Defence Minister
Controversy had struck when Parrikar was inaugurating the girls' hostel of GEC, which Parrikar claims is the “dream of every IIT student”.
(With PTI inputs)
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