Rang De Basanti actor Siddharth is receiving brickbats on social media for his reply to a tweet of ace badminton player Saina Nehwal which was made in reference to PM Narendra Modi's convoy's security breach in Punjab's Ferozepur on January 5. Some protesters blocked a route and forced Modi's convoy to spend about 15-20 minutes on a flyover. After the PM's rally in the region was cancelled due to the lapse in security, a huge row has stirred up.
As news of PM's security breach surfaced, Nehwal tweeted, "No nation can claim itself to be safe if the security of its own PM gets compromised. I condemn, in the strongest words possible, the cowardly attack on PM Modi by anarchists. #BharatStandsWithModi #PMModi (sic)."
Siddharth wrote in response to Nehwal's tweet, "Subtle cock champion of the world... Thank God we have protectors of India (sic)."
Netizens trolled Siddharth for his apparent 'sexist' remark on the Olympic medallist. Some even called him 'misogynist' for his use of innuendos and said the comment was not made in good taste.
After heavy backlash, Siddharth also tweeted his clarification. "COCK & BULL. That's the reference. Reading otherwise is unfair and leading! Nothing disrespectful was intended, said or insinuated. Period (sic)."
Responding to Siddharth's comment to her Tweet, Nehwal told News18, "I’m not sure what he meant. I used to like him as an actor but this was not nice. He can express himself with better words but I guess it’s Twitter n u remain noticed with such words n comments."
Siddharth was also trolled on social media when he seemingly made a reference to Samantha and Naga Chaitanya's divorce announcement in October last year. The announcement had elicited reactions from people — both direct and indirect. But it was a tweet from Siddharth that caused a lot of stir online.
“One of the first lessons I learnt from a teacher in school… “Cheaters never prosper." What’s yours?" tweeted Siddharth and many saw this as a dig at Samantha. Later, Siddharth insisted that the tweet was related to something that was going on in his life, adding that it wasn’t the his problem if people misconstrued his words.
Siddharth is known to voice his thoughts on social media has often been the target trolling. But that hasn't stopped him from expressing his thoughts without fear.
