Randeep Hooda defends himself after being accused of ridiculing martyr's daughter

Randeep Hooda defends himself after being accused of ridiculing a martyr's daughter

Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda found himself in the midst of a controversy for 'ridiculing' Gurmehar Kaur, the daughter of an Indian Army martyr, after he applauded ex-cricketer Virender Sehwag's tweet that took a dig at Kaur.

The 'Sarbjit' actor took to Facebook to defend his stance over the row.

He wrote:

"Don't hang me over a laugh!
Viru cracked a joke and I admit I laughed. Damn!! He is so witty and this is one of the other million things he's said that has made me crack up. That was it!!
But now, lo and behold, I'm being held responsible for instigating hate threats against a young girl, shockingly by the girl herself. That's absolutely untrue. That was never our intention and our tweets is not the source of all the hate she might be receiving.
She spoke up, she stood for something she believes in, so then, she must also have the courage and fortitude to listen to the voices against it. To point fingers at someone else (in this case me) and hold him responsible for the reactions to her actions is not right. I have absolutely nothing against her and strongly believe that violence is wrong. Threatening a woman with violence is an even more heinous crime and the perpetrators should be brought to task with the most severe punishment.
I like her video of peace between warring nations. It's noble. But that's not the point in contention, is it ? She has the right to protest against what she feels is wrong and it's also Viru's right to make a joke about it. We live in a democracy and enjoy the right to freedom of expression! Accusing us of bullying and trolling the girl is wrong.
She wasn't tagged in his joke nor in my amusement. But some journalists, among others, are trying hard to give this all kinds of colours to malign us and prove their point. They want to attach labels to us to further their agendas. That's bullying and if you think you can bully us, you have another thing coming.
How's the DU violence connected to her appeal against war? How's Viru's wit connected to supporting violence? The point is that it's not, but is very pointedly being manipulated into being so.

This girl's voice is important, but not more important than every other citizen. She is in no way representing all the martyrs and their children. It's her personal opinion and should be taken as such. And it is my personal opinion that people shouldn't fire their guns from young, impressionable shoulders. Students should study, debate and learn from these exchanges. They are the future of our nation and I'm not worried about our future because we have such brave and outspoken youngsters around.

As for being insensitive to a martyr's daughter, let me tell you that six of my classmates have sacrificed their lives for the nation and so have many others, senior and junior to me. Every village in my state has martyrs who have been saluted for more than two centuries. Yes, war is wrong but we didn't start it or persevere with it. We don't back down from protecting our borders even if it takes our loved ones away. How do we deal with it ? With ironical humour!!
With this I'd like to end my engagement with this particular topic.
Jai Hind."

It all started when a Kargil martyr's daughter, whose social media campaign against the ABVP went viral, got caught up in a Twitter war with Virender Sehwag and Randeep Hooda who called her a 'political pawn'.

24-year-old Gurmehar Kaur, a Delhi University student, had started the campaign 'I am not afraid of ABVP', following the violence at Ramjas college, which went viral and received a massive support from students of various universities.

She posted her pictures on Facebook holding different placards including 'I am not afraid of ABVP' and 'Pakistan did not kill my father but war did'.

Also read: Virender Sehwag's reply to Kargil martyr's daughter causes online uproar

While the literature student's classmates and peers started sharing the post, prompting students from various universities across the country to change their profile pictures with similar placards, Virender Sehwag shared an image of his holding a placard saying, "I did not score two triple centuries. My bat did."

While many Twitter users criticised Sehwag for comparing a cricket match to a war, many others including Randeep Hooda, cheered Sehwag for his remark, saying, "She (Gurmehar) is being made a pawn."

"Really sweet of you to encourage the hate I've been receiving. Makes me feel happy that I adored your work :) Pawn? I can think. I don't support violence perpetuated on students? Is that so wrong (sic)," Kaur said in a series of tweets in reply to Hooda's comment.

Also read: Didn't expect this from Sehwag, am not anti-national, says Kargil martyr's daughter

The Twitterati reacted negatively to the actor's remark prompting him to get into a damage control mode.

"What's sad is that the poor girl is being used as political pawn...It absolutely wrong..have a feeling it's not limited to that in interpretation (sic)" he tweeted.

"Don't call me a Martyrs (sic) daughter if that bothers you. I never claimed anything otherwise. You can call me Gurmehar," she tweeted.

Also read: After alleged 'rape threats', Kargil martyr's daughter compared with Dawood

Ramjas college had last week witnessed large-scale violence between members of the Left-affiliated AISA and the ABVP.

The genesis of the clash was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on 'Culture of Protests' which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP.

(With inputs from agencies)