After receiving backlashes for his recent video 'Two Indias,' an FIR against popular Indian stand-up comedian Vir Das has been filed in Delhi's Tilak Marg police station. A Delhi resident Aditya Jha has filed a complaint, alleging that the comedian-actor made indecent remarks against the country at an event organised in America. Ashutosh Dubey, a lawyer of the Bombay High Court has also filed a complaint with Mumbai Police demanding strict action against Vir Das. For the unversed, Vir Das recently stirred up a hornet's nest when he delivered a monologue about the contradiction within the country under the segment 'I Come From Two Indias.'
FIR against Vir Das
In the six-minute video, Das talks about the duality of the country and mentions some of the most topical issues India is facing, from its battle against COVID-19, incidents of rapes, crackdown against comedians to the farmers' protests. The video is from his performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Earlier in the day, actress Kangana Ranaut slammed Das’ for his 'Indian men worship women during the day and gang-rape them at night' comment. Taking to her Instagram Story, Kangana wrote, "When you generalise all Indian men as gang-rapists it gives rise and encouragement to racism and bullying against Indians all over the world...after Bengal Famine Churchill famously said, ‘These Indians breed like rabbits they are bound to die like this...’ he blamed Indians’ sex drive/fertility for the death of millions because of hunger... Such creative work targeting an entire race is soft terrorism... strict actions must be taken against such criminals @virdas."
Kangana Ranaut's Instagram Story
On Tuesday, reacting to the ongoing controversy, Vir Das released an official statement on his Twitter asking people not to fall for edited excerpts from the video and also shared his intent behind making the video. He wrote, "There has been a sizeable reaction to a video I posted on YouTube. The video is a satire about the duality of two very separate India’s that do different things. Like any nation has light and dark, good and evil within it. None of this is a secret."
“The video appeals for us to never forget that we are great. To never stop focusing on what makes us great. It ends in a gigantic patriotic round of applause for a country we all love, believe in, and are proud of. That there is more to our country than the headlines, a deep beauty. THAT’S the point of the video and the reason for the applause,” he added.
