Controversial Tweets of 2011

Some kicked up a storm, others brought good news, while some gave instant fame. Welcome to the world of Twitter, where messages flout every rule in the grammar book but are keenly followed, tweet by re-tweet. Take a look at some of the controversial tweets that made headlines in 2011!

Poonam Pandey
Little known model Poonam Pandey became a household name as soon as she tweeted that she would strip for Team India if they win the 2011 World Cup. Her tweet opened a Pandora's box and she has been in the news after that. She later admitted her tweet was a fruitful publicity stunt and worked as per her plans.

"I did many things like opening the fan page on Facebook where I did an exclusive photo shoot. But I was not satisfied, so I came up with this idea, which worked well. It was my own decision and I was awake and fully aware of what I was saying," she said.

In September, during the India-England series, Poonam gained more attention when she posted bikini-clad photographs on Twitter with the message, "The world will see that I lived up to my inspiration. Now, I am sure my team will beat England."

Chetan Bhagat
Bestselling author and ex-IITian Chetan took to Twitter to counter Infosys chairman emeritus N.R. Narayana Murthy's remark that the standard of students in the IITs is declining. Slamming Murthy's remark, he wrote: "It is ironic when someone who runs a body shopping company and calls it hi-tech makes sweeping comments on the quality of IIT students."

His comment kicked a storm, but later Chetan called a truce on Twitter, saying, All is well.

Salman Rushdie
The India-born internationally acclaimed author took on Facebook when he was asked not to use his middle name Salman, which he is recognised by. He described his online identity crisis through a series of tweets. "Dear #Facebook, forcing me to change my FB name from Salman to Ahmed Rushdie is like forcing J. Edgar to become John Hoover" and "Or, if F. Scott Fitzgerald was on #Facebook, would they force him to be Francis Fitzgerald? What about F. Murray Abraham?"

The impact of his tweets was such that Facebook buckled under the pressure and allowed him to call himself by the name he is known as.

Taslima Nasreen
Bangladeshi author kicked up a storm when she tweeted, "My Nepali friends, I missed my flight to go to Kathmandu today. I forgot to bring my passport as I didn't consider Nepal a foreign country!" She was scheduled to arrive in the Nepal capital for the launch of the English translation of her book Lajja at a literary festival.

The comment not only hurt the sentiments of her Nepalese fans but was also interpreted as a sign of her poor knowledge of world geography. Later Nasreen, known for her feminist outlook and for her criticism of Islamic tenets, said she was shocked and hurt by the reactions to her comments, especially since she felt close to Nepal as a country.

"An exiled homeless writer, I feel people who love/support me are my home. I got love from Nepal that made me feel at home! My emotions get mocked," she tweeted.

Omar Abdullah
If Shashi Tharoor's "cattle class" tweet cost him his job, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah landed in a soup after his controversial tweet on Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. He had tweeted: "If J&K assembly had passed a resolution similar to the Tamil Nadu one for Afzal Guru would the reaction have been as muted? I think not."

His tweet came after the southern state passed a resolution asking for clemency for the killers of late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Ram Gopal Varma
B-town is big time into tweets and this year Varma took the cake when he reacted to Amitabh Bachchan's film Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap on twitter in the most bizarre manner. He posted a message full of abusive words.

"Just watched Bbhuddah nd am angry with bachchan that he's such a ch**tiy** not to do films like this nd am such a l*** not to realise this."

Text:IANS