The Aam Aadmi Party has demanded an apology from Goa minister Vijai Sardesai for calling domestic tourists "scum" and stated that the minister’s outburst was derogatory, abusive, disgraceful and undignified.
Pradip Padgaonkar, general secretary of the Goa unit of AAP, asserted, “The word scum is unacceptable coming from a minister against fellow Indians and generalising all domestic tourists. His making cultural segregations and commenting on the quality of the guest only defines his outdated feudal, classist mindset.”
He added, “The government’s inability to govern and therein provide facilities and systems for visiting tourists is not a reason to blame the visitor. Popular tourist destinations across the globe do not distinguish between visitors but provide necessary infrastructure to manage the influx.”
He also stated that the tourism industry was not marred by domestic tourists but by factors such as drug-trafficking, prostitution, gambling dens and illegal constructions.
Sardesai on his part insists that his comments were quoted out of context and that, he wasn’t deeming all domestic tourists as ‘scum of the earth’ but was hinting at certain sections who according to him were creating a nuisance in Goa by littering and creating a garbage problem in the state.
