Why controversial Indian-origin poet Rupi Kaur has declined White House Diwali invite

The Canadian poet Rupi Kaur has found herself in the centre of a fresh controversy after turning down an invitation to the White House for a Diwali celebration. This wasn’t just a straightforward “NO,” as she also released a politically charged statement on X, criticising the United States for supporting Israel in the wake of the Gaza attack. Moreover, she called on fellow South Asians to hold the American government accountable. The holiday celebration will take place on 8 November. It will be hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris, who hasn’t commented on the statements yet. Let’s take a closer look. About Indian-origin Rupi Kaur Rupi Kaur, 31, is a Toronto-based poet, author and illustrator. She is known for her work focusing on themes of love, loss, trauma, healing, femininity and mitigation. Some of her popular books include Healing Through Words, Home Body, Milk and Honey, among others. According to Hindustan Times, born into a Sikh family in India’s Punjab on 4 October 1992, she immigrated to Canada with her family at the age of three. Kaur earned her Bacherlor’s degree in Arts at the University of Waterloo. Nicknamed “Queen of Instapoet,” Kaur rose to fame after building up a huge follower base on social media. Today, she has over four million followers on the photo-sharing platform. Controversy for declining White House Diwali invitation Kaur declined the White House invitation for Diwali celebration in protest of the Joe Biden administration’s support to Israel amid the Gaza bombing. She criticised the US lawmakers, by saying, “I’m surprised this administration finds it acceptable to celebrate Diwali, when their support of the current atrocities against Palestinians represent the exact opposite of what this holiday means to many of us.” “Diwali is the celebration of righteousness over falsehood and knowledge over ignorance,” while further accusing the government of justifying “genocide against Palestinians.”

I received an invite from the Biden administration for a Diwali event being held by the VP on nov 8. I decline any invitation from an institution that supports the collective punishment of a trapped civilian population—50% of whom are children. pic.twitter.com/J3V5om89Se

— rupi kaur (@rupikaur_) November 6, 2023

In her statement, she continued, “I have always used this day to reflect on what it means to fight for freedom against oppression,” referencing Bandi Chhor Divas, a Sikh holiday commemorating the day the sixth Sikh Guru “helped free 52 political prisoners from unjust imprisonment,” that overlaps with Diwali. “Today, the American government is not only funding the bombardment of Gaza, they continue to justify this genocide against Palestinians – regardless of how many refugee camps, health facilities, and places of worships are blown to bits,” Kaur wrote. She also condemned the administration while citing United Nations statistics – “70 per cent of the dead are women and children.” Further, she highlighted Israel’s attacks on Gaza, by saying, “We have seen Israel use white phosphorous bombs, which Amnesty International says must be investigated as a war crime. We’ve seen footage on CNN of Israeli settlers kicking out and occupying the homes of Palestinians in the West Bank.” She also asked her South Asian community to “hold this administration accountable,” and encouraged them to “sign petitions, attend protests and boycott.” “As a Sikh woman, I will not allow my likeness to be used in whitewashing this administration’s action. I refuse any invitation from an institution that supports the collective punishment of a trapped civilian population – 50 per cent of whom are children.” “Call our reps and say – stop the genocide,” she concluded. Some of her past controversies In 2015, Kaur made headlines when she posted a picture of her in pyjamas with a period bloodstain. The picture was removed by Instagram twice for violating guidelines. Taking stand against the social media site, Kaur called attention to the duplicity of the platform that allowed women’s sexual pictures but restricted what it meant to be a normal female experience. Along with her fame, came a special kind of hate. According to Vice, her brand of “lowercase font poetry” has often been criticised for being “too simplistic.” One of the famous parodies of her work is a Facebook page named “Not Rupi Kaur,” which was created in March 2019. However, even though the public scrutinized her style, three of her poetry collections – Milk and Honey, The Sun and Her Flowers, Human Body have all been acclaimed best sellers.

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In 2017, Twitter users accused Kaur of plagiarising a fellow Tumblr poet, Nayyairah Waheed. The matter snowballed when Waheed’s fans pointed out that the African-American poet tried to initiate a dialogue with the 31-year-old poet about the similarity in their work, but was rebuffed, according to Scroll.in. Responding to the controversy in 2018, Kaur told Vice, “Plagiarism is such a heavy, loaded word. It can also silence people. People who would not be writing otherwise. Me using a couple of words that the other person also uses doesn’t equal plagiarism.” Furthermore, she has also been criticized for exoticising the South Asian immigrant experience. Vice quoted an anonymous person as saying, “Rupi’s poetry is tailored for the white gaze. I don’t like how she generalises the South Asian immigrant experience to intergenerational trauma, it’s harmful to people like me who come from refugee communities.” Earlier this year in April, Milk and Honey, Kaur’s first book launched in 2014 which sold over 2.5 million copies in 25 languages, was one of the most banned books in US classrooms for the first half of the 2022-23 school year, according to data by non-profit PEN America. This was because of the mentions of sexual assault and violence. According to The Star, the group claimed a total of 1,477 books were banned between 1 July and 1 December 2022. With inputs from agencies