Police complaints against standup Vir Das for ‘maligning’ India’s image

BJP-affiliated workers have lodged police complaints against actor-comedian Vir Das in New Delhi and Mumbai for allegedly using derogatory language against India in a video titled, ‘I come from two Indias’.

Das uploaded a portion of his recent performance at the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington, DC, on YouTube on Monday, and the clip quickly went viral.

In the six-minute video, Das talks about contemporary issues in India like farmers’ protest, women’s safety, the country’s response to COVID-19 and the crackdown on comedians.

In a particular portion, the standup can be heard saying: “I come from an India where we worship women during the day and gang-rape them during the night.”

“He [Das] says in the video: ‘In India, we worship women in the day and rape them at night.’ These derogatory statements against women and India are inflammatory. They were made in the US and malign the image of our country internationally. I want police to conduct an investigation,” Aditya Jha said in his complaint in New Delhi on Tuesday night.

Also read: Indians ‘intolerant’ Sibal supports Vir Das’ honest monologue on Two Indias

In Mumbai, a lawyer affiliated with the BJP e-mailed a complaint to the police. Calling the video as “venomous and inflammatory”, Ashutosh Dubey urged the police commissioner to register an FIR against Das.

I have filed the complaint against Vir Das Indian Comedian with @CPMumbaiPolice @MumbaiPolice for defaming & spoiling the image of India in the USA, which is inflammatory.

He wilfully spelled inciting & derogatory statements against India, Indian women, & the PM of India. pic.twitter.com/xQuLuGwGZv

— ADV. ASHUTOSH J. DUBEY ?? (@AdvAshutoshBJP) November 16, 2021

In his response to the reactions to the video, Das released a statement, saying: “The video is a satire about the duality of two very separate India’s that do different things. Like any nation has light and dark, good and evil within it. None of this is a secret. The video appeals for us to never forget that we are great. To never stop focusing on what makes us great.”

The video “ends in a gigantic patriotic round of applause for a country we all love, believe in, and are proud of. That there is more to our country than the headlines, a deep beauty. That’s the point of the video and the reason for the applause,” he said.