‘Don’t hang me over a laugh!’

Actor Randeep Hooda posted an open letter on Facebook on Monday night after facing backlash in the day for supporting a controversial tweet by former cricketer Virender Sehwag. In the letter, Hooda says Viru was only joking when he put up a picture of himself the way Gurmehar Kaur, the daughter of martyr Captain Mandeep Singh had shared online, blaming war and not Pakistan for her father’s killing. “Viru cracked a joke and I admit I laughed. Damn!! He is so witty... made me crack up. That was it!! I’m being held responsible for instigating hate threats against a young girl, shockingly by the girl herself. That was never our intention and our tweet is not the source of the hate she might be receiving,” wrote Randeep, who believes that if the girl stood for something she believes in, she must also have the courage and fortitude to listen to the voices against 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.” As for Viru and his tweets mocking the DU violence (in Ramjas College) scenario, Randeep questioned: “How’s Viru’s wit connected to supporting violence? The point is it’s not, but is very pointedly being manipulated into being so.” The actor went to state that those calling him “insensitive to a martyr’s daughter” should know that “six of my classmates have sacrificed their lives for the nation. Every village in my state has martyrs who have been saluted for more than two centuries.”