Celebrities speak up for Kaur, freedom of speech
Gambhir speaks out in support, Sehwag defends post
From cricketers to Bollywood celebrities, DU student Gurmehar Kaur, who is in the eye of a storm over her campaign against the ABVP, has been receiving continuous support for expressing her opinion against the politicisation of university campuses. While Bollywood celebrities like Vidya Balan, Anurag Kashyap, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Vishal Dadlani and cricketer Gautam Gambir came out in her support on Wednesday, the Punjab police provided security to her at her native place in Jalandhar.
Gambhir came out in support of the DU student even as cricketer Virender Sehwag defended himself.
Gambhir asserted that mocking or “ganging up” on Kaur for her views on the “horrors of war” was “despicable”. “Freedom of expression is absolute and equal for all,” he tweeted.
Gambhir’s views are in stark contrast to Virender Sehwag’s opinion on the issue. Incidentally, the two had opened innings for Team India for a long time. In a series of tweets, Sehwag defended himself, claiming that his social media post in reply to Ms Kaur was an “attempt to be facetious” rather than one to bully anyone over their opinion, adding that agreement or disagreement was not even a factor. “She has a right to express her views and anyone who threatens her with violence or rape is the lowest form of life. Everyone has a right to express their views without being bullied or threatened. Gurmehar Kaur or the Phogat sisters,” Virender Sehwag tweeted.
In his statement, Gambhir said he has utmost respect for the Indian Army, however, the recent events have left him with a sense of disappointment. “We live in a free country where everyone is entitled to their opinion. If a daughter who lost her father puts up posts about the horrors of war with the intention of achieving peace, she has all the right to do so.”
“It is not an opportunity for everyone to show how patriotic they are and gang up on her to mock her. She is entitled to her opinion just as every other citizen is. Everyone may or may not agree with it but mocking her for it is despicable,” Gambhir said.
Urging people to respect other’s freedom of expression, actress Vidya Balan said, “I don’t want to say much. I think what we really need to do is respect people’s freedom of expression. ‘He said something she said something’, all are right in their place. But I don’t want to add anything more, everyone has the right to express what they feel.”