Police complaints were filed against actor-comedian Vir Das in Delhi and Mumbai on Wednesday amid a heated argument over a video related to a performance by actor-comedian Vir Das in the US. Vir Das uploaded a video titled ‘I come from to India’s’ on YouTube on Monday. The video was part of his recent presentation at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
In the six-minute video, Das talked about the country’s alleged dual character and cited issues ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic, rape incidents and action against comedians to farmer protests. Clips of a portion of the video were being shared on Twitter, especially the portion in which Das said, “I come from an India where women are worshiped during the day and raped at night.” Is.’
Vir Das issued a statement on Tuesday clarifying that he did not intend to insult the country. She has been supported by Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra as well as Congress leaders Kapil Sibal and Shashi Tharoor. Meanwhile, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader in Delhi and Mumbai-based lawyer Ashutosh J Dubey has filed a police complaint against Das.
In a complaint lodged with the New Delhi District Police Station, BJP’s Delhi unit vice-president and spokesperson Aditya Jha alleged that he made “derogatory” statements against India at an international forum with the intention of tarnishing the country’s image. Jha claimed that all such “derogatory” statements were made at an international forum to malign the image of the country and women.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Deepak Yadav said, “We have received a complaint in this regard and it is being investigated.” He said that no FIR has been registered so far. Dubey held him responsible for ‘tarnishing India’s image in America’. No FIR has been registered yet. Supporting comedian Vir Das, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said there are “two Indias” here, but people do not want anyone to tell the world about it as “we are intolerant and hypocritical”.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also supported Vir Das. Sharing the video of Das’s performance, he tweeted, “A stand-up comedian knows the real meaning of standing, not just physically, but morally. Vir Das spoke for crores of people in six minutes. Excellent.
Trinamool Congress MP Moitra also supported the comedian and thanked him for speaking the truth about “Two Indias”.
There were also some voices of support from the Hindi film industry, including filmmaker Hansal Mehta and actress-producer Pooja Bhatt, who congratulated Das for his courage. Mehta said, ‘I was impressed by this Virdas. I come from an India where courage is required for Vir Das to say this, I come from an India where many admire this courage, yet choose to remain silent.’
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On the other hand, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi took a dig at Vir Das and said that it is not right to say wrong about the country in front of the world by broadening the evils of some people. Singhvi objected to Vir Das’s move and said, “It is not right to broaden the evils of a few people and speak ill of the entire country in front of the world.” There are still people presenting India as a land of snake charmers and robbers in front of the western world at the time of colonial rule.
Hitting out at Vir Das, actress Kangana Ranaut wrote on Instagram, “When you portray all Indian men as gang rapists, it promotes racism against Indians across the world.” Such a constructive act targeting the entire caste is ‘soft’ terrorism… Strict action should be taken against such criminals.’ Lawyer Dubey, whose Twitter bio states that he is the legal advisor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Maharashtra Palghar district, posted that he has filed a complaint with the Mumbai Police against the comedian.
Dubey also criticized Tharoor for supporting Das and shared a tweet by BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who lauded Dubey for ‘using constitutional measures to curb hatred against India’. However, the 42-year-old comedian said in a post on Twitter that his intention was to remind him that the country is great despite many issues. “This video is a satire about two very different India where different things happen,” he said in the statement. Like any country, it has light and darkness, good and evil. This is no secret. This video appeals to us to never forget that we are great.
