Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday took a dig at the acronym of the India-UK-led solar energy initiative being ‘OSOWOG’, saying that ‘wog’ is a British term of insult for “the likes of us wily oriental gentlemen”.
India on Tuesday launched ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid’ (OSOWOG) at the global climate conference COP26 in Glasgow, with an aim to harness solar energy wherever the sun is shining, ensuring that generated electricity flows to areas that need it the most.
“Can’t believe the acronym for the new UK-India ‘One Sun One World One Grid’ is OSOWOG,” Tharoor tweeted.
“WOG is a Brit term of insult for the likes of us Wily Oriental Gentlemen, and “Oh So Wog!” sounds like a nasty put-down. Can only have been dreamed up by someone at @PMOIndia with a tin ear,” the former Union minister said.
According to the Merriam Webster, wog is used as an “insulting and contemptuous term for a dark-skinned foreigner and especially for one from the Middle East or Far East”.
The International Solar Alliance (ISA), India Presidency of the ISA, and the UK COP Presidency unveiled the plans for the first international network of global interconnected solar power grids, known as the ‘Green Grids Initiative One Sun One World One Grid’ (GGI-OSOWOG), at the COP26 climate conference.
The project is being spearheaded by the governments of India and the UK in partnership with the ISA and the World Bank Group.