Saina Nehwal's father demands apology from Siddharth for 'lewd' tweet on daughter

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Actor Siddharth recently stirred up a controversy after his response to a tweet by badminton player Saina Nehwal went viral. On January 5, 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."  She was referring to a security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Punjab visit on January 5.

On January 6, quoting Nehwal's tweet Siddharth said, "... champion of the world... Thank God we have protectors of India. Folded hands. Shame on you #Rihanna." Many on social media believed it to be a 'sexual comment' and Siddharth was brutally trolled for his choice of words. However, the Rang De Basanti actor later clarified on this writing on Twitter, "Reading into the tweet would be unfair and leading."

Nehwal also reacted to Siddharth's comments and 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."

Now, Nehwal's father has also slammed the actor's tweet for his daughter and demanded an apology from him. "A person from the cinema industry (actor Siddharth) has made some bad remarks against Saina (Nehwal) on Twitter. I condemned his statement. He should come out in open and apologise. Our family is really disturbed. Saina is also unhappy," Harvir Singh Nehwal told ANI. He further said that Nehwal was in New Delhi currently and preparing for the India Open 2022 and when they spoke on the phone about the tweet made by Siddharth, she said that she didn't like someone writing about her. 

Nehwal's husband Parupalli Kashyap also called out Siddharth on social media following the controversy and termed his tweet ‘disgraceful’. Kashyap took to Twitter to lash out at Siddharth and wrote - "This is upsetting for us … express ur opinion but choose better words man. I guess u thought it was cool to say it this way. #notcool #disgraceful." Kashyap and Nehwal tied the knot in 2018.

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has also sought "prompt and strict action" against Siddharth for using indecent language for women on social media. The NCW termed Sidharth's tweet as being "misogynist and outrageous to the modesty of a woman amounting to disrespect and insult to the dignity of women on social media platform (sic)."