Opposition leaders on Monday took swipes at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after social media users pointed out spelling mistakes in the citation of a national honour conferred by Seychelles. The citation misspelled “Republic” as “Repubblic” and “Seychelles” as “Seycheeles.”
Moitra and Shrinate question authenticity
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra posted on X: “Hon’ble PM ji loves awards. He loves foreign travel. He used our money to give Rs 500 crore grant & Rs 1,250 crore line of credit to Seychelles who happily gave him a misspelt certificate.”
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, in a sarcastic post, said: “Modi ji is on a visit to Seychelles, which has a population of 1.30 lakh. Seychelles has invented a new award and given it to Narendra Modi. This award, named 'Guardian of the Blue Horizon,' hasn't been given to anyone before Modi ji. But the Seychellois did all this in such a hurry that they misspelled 'Republic Of Seychelles' on the seal.” She also referenced previous awards given to Modi, including one from Israel and the Philip Kotler award.
Award created days before visit
Seychelles President Patrick Herminie conferred the “Guardian of the Blue Horizon” award on Modi on Sunday during his visit as guest of honour at the golden jubilee celebrations of Seychelles’ national day. The award recognized Modi’s “steadfast commitment to environmental conservation and advancing the aspirations of the small island developing states.”
Congress leader Vijay Vasanth noted that the award was instituted just four days before Modi’s visit, which also coincided with an announcement of Rs 1,500 crore in economic assistance. “The award itself seems quite unique, apparently, no one had received it before, and perhaps no one will after,” he wrote.
Allegations of AI-generated citation
TMC leader Saket Gokhale called the development a “monumental shame,” alleging that the citation was AI-generated. He said: “Over the last couple of years, it has been a trend that Modi expects a 'civilian honour' from whichever country he goes to. Foreign countries have realized that the easiest way to please Modi is to give him an award. For this, they sometimes even create new non-existent awards to satisfy Modi’s PR.”
Gokhale added that Modi’s “inferiority complex” and “fragile ego” were causing global humiliation for India.
