A recent post by Rajeev Shukla, vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has gone viral after he shared a picture of himself gifting his book Scars of 1947 to King Charles. The gesture sparked an online frenzy, with social media users roasting Shukla for the symbolic irony of the moment.
“Presented my book Scars of 1947 to King Charles at St. James Palace his house. He took lot of interest in the content of the book,” Shukla wrote on X (formerly Twitter), alongside a photo of himself handing over the book to the British monarch.
The book’s title—referring to the trauma of India’s Partition and the scars left by British colonial rule—didn’t go unnoticed by the internet.
The meeting took place during a reception hosted at St. James’s Palace for India’s men’s and women’s cricket teams, where Shukla, also a Rajya Sabha MP from Chhattisgarh, was in attendance.
What Did Social Media Say?
The internet quickly lit up with jokes and jabs:
- “Not many know the fact that Rajiv Shukla wrote this book in 1947 and King Charles was born in 1948,” one user quipped.
- Another sarcastically commented, “Sir, I still remember my grandfather narrating your heroic deeds from the ‘Non-Cooperation Movement’ of the 1920s. And today, here you are – presenting your book to the very people you once resisted. Life truly has come full circle.”
- A popular meme read: “Only you can get Kohinoor back.”
- One particularly viral comment said, “Gifting the book which contains scars given by the British to the British King. Rajeev Shukla does not play with fire, he is the fire!!”
Who Is Rajeev Shukla?
Rajeev Shukla began his career as a journalist before entering politics in 2000. He is a key figure in Indian cricket administration, having served as Chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2011 and BCCI vice president since 2020. He is also involved with the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association and is set to become the interim president of the BCCI once current chief Roger Binny steps down.
While King Charles may have accepted the book with interest, it’s the internet’s reaction that made the bigger headlines.