Haryana violence: Govinda clears air on now-deleted controversial tweet
What's the story
On Wednesday evening, a now-deleted tweet from actor Govinda's account began doing rounds on Twitter, condemning the recent communal clashes in parts of Haryana.
The tweet lambasted Hindus for their alleged involvement in the violence and appealed for peace.
However, on Thursday, Govinda took to Instagram to clarify that his account has been hacked, and he isn't even an active Twitter user.
Tweet
The tweet reminded Indians that 'we're a democracy'
The now-inexistent tweet by the Haseena Maan Jaayegi actor's account said, "What have we come down to? Shame on the people who call themselves Hindus and do such things. Aman aur shanti banaye. Hum democracy hai, autocracy nahi (We are a democracy, not an autocracy)."
Although the tweet has now vanished from his account, several Twitter users quickly captured screenshots that are now viral.
Clarification
The actor talked about seeking Cybercell's help
Govinda posted the clarification video on his Instagram, @govinda_herono1.
Part of his video said, "All the people of Haryana, I want to say that my Twitter has been hacked. I haven't even been using Twitter for many years. My team has confirmed that they have not tweeted anything. They don't even post anything without asking me. I will complain about this matter in cybercrime."
On politics
The actor blamed miscreants for supposed political controversy
Govinda further clarified that he has consulted with his team and none of them posted the controversial tweet, adding that they don't post anything without consulting him or seeking his permission.
The actor, who is also a former member of the Lok Sabha, added that some miscreants might have written the post considering the upcoming elections.
"I never discuss all this," he concluded.
Twitter Post
Take a look at the tweet here
I am a Govinda fanboy, and I am so glad that he has a spine. Though he deleted the tweet because of the trolling by Hindutva terrorists, but standing up for what is right is what makes a hero, a Hero No. 1. pic.twitter.com/J16CV1Tvob
— Saiam Hasan (@HashTagFirullah) August 2, 2023
Violence
Violence: What happened in Haryana?
Earlier this week, a religious procession organized by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal was allegedly attacked by a mob (reportedly Muslim) in Nuh, Haryana.
This led to clashes between Hindu and Muslim communities, with violence spreading to Mewat and Gurugram, among other areas.
Reportedly, police have made over a hundred arrests in the matter.
Similar instances
Instances of actors' accounts being broken into
This is not the first time an actor's account has been hacked and put to controversial use.
In 2019, a Turkish hacker got access to Amitabh Bachchan's account, and changed his profile picture to that of Pakistan's former PM Imran Khan, along with tweeting controversial content.
Farah Khan, Aanand L Rai, and Abhishek Bachchan are some others who fell prey to similar cyber crimes.