Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda, who was condemned on social media on Monday for joining former India cricketer, Virender Sehwag, in ‘bullying’ a young daughter of Kargil martyr, has issued a formal statement denying charges against him.
In a Facebook post, Hooda asked everyone not to ‘hang’ him ‘over a laugh.”
He wrote, “Viru(Sehwag) 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. (sic)”
In a dig at Gurmehar’s old Facebook video message saying ‘Pakistan did not kill my father, war did,’ Sehwwag posted his own photo with a placard that said, “I didn’t score two triple centuries, my bat did.”
His insulting post, however, became very popular among those who preached hatred against anyone being seen even remotely critical of the BJP or its ideological mentor, the RSS.
Among those applauding Sehwag for his tweet was Bollywood actor, Randeep Hooda, who shared the former India cricketer’s post with the ‘clap’ and loud laughter emoticons.
Janta Ka Reporter was one of the first news outlets to have highlighted the episode of what came across as a blatant act of bullying by two famous celebrities.
Hooda, in his Facebook post, had this message for Janta Ka Reporter and other journalists, who reported on his act, “She wasn’t tagged in his (Sehwag’s) 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.”
You can read Hooda’s full statement below;