Samajwadi Party Leader Calls Manipur Climate Activist 'Foreigner', Criticised

"I'm a proud Indian. I'm not a foreigner," replied Licypricya, the 11-year-old activist.

(Picture Courtesy: Twitter/ @licypriya/ Altered by The Quint)

Licypriya Kangujam, the 11-year-old environmental activist from Manipur was recently called a 'foreign tourist' by Samajwadi party leader Manish Jagan Agrawal. Licypriya who has always been vocal about climate change and pollution, had posted a picture of her in front of Taj Mahal, holding a placard that read, "Behind the beauty of Taj Mahal is plastic pollution".

Later, Manish had posted the same picture, identifying her as a foreigner and complained about the government's inaction against the unchecked pollution. Obviously, this triggered a controversy on Twitter.

Licypriya Kangujam's original tweet

(Picture Courtesy: Twitter/ @licypriya)

Manish Jagan's tweet that started the controversy

(Picture Courtesy: Twitter/ @manishjagan)

Manish had captioned his post in Hindi that read, "Foreign tourists are also forced to show mirror to BJP-ruled Yogi government. Yamuna ji is full of filth under the BJP government. This filth is a bad stain on the beauty of the Taj Mahal. It is very shameful for foreign tourists to show mirror to the government. This image of India and UP has been created by the BJP government."

The tweet garnered many responses, including Licypriya's. She replied to his tweet and said, "Hello Sir, I'm a proud Indian. I'm not a foreigner."

Licypriya, who has been on the frontline of climate activism in India since 2018, is also one of the youngest climate activist globally. She has even addressed the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2019. So, naturally Manish's tone deaf and ignorant tweet has come under the scanner. But even after people pointed out his blunder, he responded by citing a newspaper as the source of information.

This is what people have to say:

People respond to Manish Agarwal calling Licypriya a 'foreigner' 

(Picture Courtesy: Twitter)

People respond to Manish Agarwal calling Licypriya a 'foreigner' 

(Picture Courtesy: Twitter)

People respond to Manish Agarwal calling Licypriya a 'foreigner' 

(Picture Courtesy: Twitter)

People respond to Manish Agarwal calling Licypriya a 'foreigner' 

(Picture Courtesy: Twitter)

People respond to Manish Agarwal calling Licypriya a 'foreigner' 

(Picture Courtesy: Twitter)

People respond to Manish Agarwal calling Licypriya a 'foreigner' 

(Picture Courtesy: Twitter)

People respond to Manish Agarwal calling Licypriya a 'foreigner' 

(Picture Courtesy: Twitter)