Protests against Raveena Tandon, Farah Khan, Bharti Singh in Punjab
On Friday, peaceful protests were carried out in several parts of Punjab against actor Raveena Tandon, director/choreographer Farah Khan, and comedian Bharti Singh, for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of the Christian community on a television program. Earlier, the Punjab Police booked the three in the matter. Meanwhile, Raveena and Farah have issued apologies. Here are more details on this.
People from the Christian community showed up in large numbers in areas like Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, and Pathankot, among others. Notably, the protests are in connection with the alleged mishandling of the word "hallelujah" [meaning: God be praised] by the trio, during an episode of Farah's show Back Benchers. The episode streamed on December 24 on Flipkart Video. The YouTube clip has since been deleted.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Police have registered a case against Raveena, Farah, and Bharti. The complaint was filed by Sonu Jafar, president of Christian Front of Ajnala Block (Amritsar district). The case has been filed at the Ajnala police station under Section 295A of the IPC (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs).
Following the FIR against herself and her colleagues, Raveena took to Twitter to clarify her stance and issue an apology. She wrote, "I haven't said a word that can be interpreted as an insult to any religion. The three of us never intended to offend anyone, but in case we did, my most sincere apologies to those who were hurt."
A day after Raveena's apology, Farah tweeted, "I'm extremely saddened that some sentiments have been inadvertently hurt by a recent episode of my show." "I respect all religions, and it would never be my intention to disrespect any. On behalf of the entire team, Raveena Tandon, Bharti Singh and Myself.. we do sincerely apologise," she added. Bharti is yet to comment on the matter.
I’m extremely saddened that some sentiments have been inadvertently hurt by a recent episode of my show. I respect all religions, n it would never be my intention 2disrespect any.On behalf of the entire team, Raveena Tandon, Bharti Singh and Myself.. we do sincerely apologise.
— Farah Khan (@TheFarahKhan) December 27, 2019
