Post Gurmehar Kaur controversy, Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda says it’s hard to speak your mind if you are a celebrity in India
Randeep Hooda and Gurmehar Kaur
Randeep Hooda and Gurmehar Kaur
Recently, Randeep Hooda was slammed for trolling Gurmehar Kaur, a Delhi University student who stood against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). On February 27, Randeep retweeted former cricketer Virender Sehwag's tweet that mocked Kaur and went on to write, "How's DU violence connected to @mehartweets appeal to get rid of hate? How's @virendersehwag witty foe connected to supporting violence? (sic)" Post trolling, the actor says he has paid the price of being a celebrity.
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"People said since I am a popular face, I shouldn't have said what I did. But I am a citizen of this country, and have an opinion. Meryl Streep's witty and poignant speech at the Golden Globe Awards was lauded. People ask why Indian actors don't express themselves like that. When I did, you saw the results."
Randeep adds he will be careful while sharing his opinion in future, because Indians are not ready to have a conversation. "People jump in with their agendas and start trolling. They may disagree, but that doesn't mean they have the right to lynch someone for what he / she thinks. It's wrong to threaten and abuse women and talk about their personal life openly. Considering the present situation in our country, I think I should have been a more careful expressing my opinion."
The actor, who is set to make his small-screen debut with MTV Big F, says the Gurmehar issue was blown out of proportion.
"I didn't know the context of Sehwag's tweet. I just found it funny in isolation. When I started getting trolled, I did some research. They put two and two together and said 'do not politicise this poor girl's point of view'. When I said 'poor', they said I am a misogynist and when I said 'girl', they said I am sexist. All I said was violence is wrong and peace must prevail," clarifies Randeep. Gurmehar, on her part, responded to the actor's apology of sorts, cheekily tweeting, "I didn't tweet, my hands did."
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