NOT A LAUGHING MATTER
VIRENDER SEHWAG CROSSED THE LINE WHEN HE TROLLED 20-YEAR-OLD GURMEHAR KAUR FOR AN OLD POST OF HERS THAT WAS TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT
Twenty-year-old Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur, who was thrust into the national spotlight a few days ago after spearheading social media campaigns against politically charged student groups, #StudentsAgainstABVP and #FightBackDU, has announced that she would no longer be a part of the movements. She also revealed earlier on Tuesday that she had received death and rape threats.
The reason for her pulling out is being seen as a result of the insensitive joke that former Indian cricketer and current serial Twitter troll Virender Sehwag made, about a video that Gurmehar had created a year ago, in which the cricketer trivialising her father’s (an army Captain) death and the message of peace she had originally intended.
Over the past couple of days, the issue has seen many throw in their support for both, Gurmehar as well as Sehwag. Minister of state for home affairs Kirren Rijiju also added fuel to fire when he questioned Gurmehar’s inspiration behind her video, later retweeting Olympic medallist and wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt’s second “joke” at the expense of Gurmehar. On Tuesday, he posted a meme on Twitter
that said, “Adolf Hitler
did not kill Jews, Gas did; Osama Bin Laden did not kill people, bombs did; and a photo of a black buck with the text reading, ‘Bhai didn’t kill me, bullets did’.” And while Randeep explained his stance on Facebook — “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” (sic) — Sehwag has not yet said anything regarding the controversy but he is being criticised by many.