Harbhajan Singh (left) and Yuvraj Singh are seen limping as they celebrate their World Championship of Legends 2024 (WCL) title win. Photo: Instagram/harbhajan3 (Screengrab)
Harbhajan, Yuvraj face flak for ‘mocking’ persons with disabilities
“Hopefully you will delete your Instagram video which is making fun of 1.2 billion disabled people in the world,” Indian para swimmer Shams Aalam posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account
Former India cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh are facing flak from para athletes over their celebration video posted on Instagram after winning the World Championship of Legends 2024 (WCL) T20 title on Saturday (July 13).
‘India Champions’ led by Yuvraj defeated ‘Pakistan Champions’ by five wickets in the final of WCL at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England.
To celebrate their win, Harbhajan collaborated with Yuvraj, Suresh Raina, and Gurkeerat Singh Mann to make a video on Instagram in which they are seen limping to the song ‘Tauba Tauba’ from the Bollywood movie Bad Newz.
What Harbhajan wrote
“Body ki Tauba Tauba ho Gayi in 15 days legends cricket.. Every part of th body is sore . Straight competition to our brothers @vickykaushal09 @karanaujla our version of Tauba Tauba dance. What a SONG (sic),” Harbhajan, who is a Rajya Sabha MP, captioned the post.
This has not gone down well with the Indian para-athletes who have accused the cricketers of mocking the persons with disabilities. He asked them to delete the video.
“Hopefully you will delete your Instagram video which is making fun of 1.2 billion disabled people in the world,” Indian para swimmer Shams Aalam posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
On Instagram, Aalam wrote, “Harbhajan, Yuvraj and other respected team members. We understand that body pain after events or practice but the way you guys are expressing it on social media is making fun of disabled community which is not acceptable. I know my comments will not affect you and your team members but imagine if something happens like this with one of your close one. Will you still express your pain in this way? We all respect you guys. Hopefully, you guys will understand and act accordingly.”
What Manasi Joshi said
Indian para badminton player Manasi Joshi too called out the cricketers and asked them to take more responsibility. She said, “this isn’t funny”.
“This isn’t legendary if you’re mocking gait patterns of people with polio. This will enable bullying on young children with disabilities in India,” she replied to Harbhajan’s post on Instagram.
“In Wanted more responsibility from stars that you all are, please do not mock at the gait patterns of people with disabilities. This isn’t funny. You don’t know how much harm your behaviour can do and the appreciation you’re getting from people around, it’s appalling to see. This reel of yours is going to encourage that it is ok to make fun of walking patterns of people with disabilities for a few laughs. More young children with disabilities will be bullied by using this reel.
“If any of you athletes would have done responsible community service in disability space area, you all would not have come up with this reel. I’m scared how the PR agencies of these athletes approved this reel for public platform. I’m really disappointed in you @harbhajan3 @sureshraina3 and all the people who in comments section who are appropriating this reel (sic),” she wrote.
Paralympic India said the cricketers’ behaviour was “disgusting and insensitive”. “Behavior is disgusting & insensitive. As Star celebrity cricket players have a responsibility to set a positive example. but mimicking the movements of individuals with disabilities, using derogatory gestures & making fun of their physical limitations. Mocking disabilities is not just a joke - it is a form of discrimination. It is time for them to apologize for their actions (sic).”"No way they made fun of disabled community. They were talking about their own body pain after playing cricket tournament after so long. It's not fair to build story out of nothing. Full respect to our disabled community and their achievements," an X user said.
Another user wrote, "I am not a para athlete but I'm a person with a disability, I don't think they are making fun of any person with a disability from any angle, by saying they are making fun of persons with disabilities you are saying that's how you yourself look at persons with disabilities."
Harbhajan issues clarification
On Monday evening (July 15), Harbhajan took to his X account to issue a clarification and said sorry. He said they did not intend to hurt anyone's sentiments with the video. He has now deleted the video too, on Instagram.
Case filed
The National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) has filed a case against Harbhajan, Yuvraj, Raina and Mann for the video, reports said on Thursday evening.
