Lucknow:
Two students from Lucknow have sent a legal notice to Press Council of India Chairperson Justice Markandey Katju for his comment at a seminar last week that "90% of Indians were idiots."
The notice to Justice Katju was sent by law student Tanaya Thakur and her brother, Class XI student Aditya Thakur.
Both said they found the comments hurtful: "We are deeply hurt and humiliated by Justice Katju's words," the duo said on Monday, adding that Justice Katju's statements "would depreciate the reputation of India and its citizens".
"A person of Justice Katju's stature should have deliberated on the implications of his statement," they told IANS, and sought a public apology from the former Supreme Court judge.
The students said that if a public apology was not forthcoming, they would move the court in a month's time. Justice Katju however has replied to the two students, saying, "I wish to first of all clarify that I do not regard Indians as inherently stupid or foolish. It is only at present that large parts of our people are foolish."
(Read)At a seminar in New Delhi last week, Justice Katju had claimed that at least 90 percent of Indians are "idiots", easily be misled by mischievous elements in the name of religion.
"I say ninety percent of Indians are idiots. You people don't have brains in your heads... It is so easy to take you for a ride," he was quoted as saying at the seminar.