Vir Das an Indian comedian and actor slammed for his insulting remarks on India during his stand up comic performance in US

NATION:  Vir Das an Indian comedian and actor who lately performed a stand-up show in the US,  has been forced to defend himself against online accusations of “insulting the country” after he performed a “two-Indias” monologue in the United States. Das, who is currently in the US, uploaded the video on YouTube on Monday, which was an excerpt of his recent performance at the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington, DC. The link for his youtube video is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A-F9qu6c_4.Controversial Kangana Ranaut left no stone unturned to delve in hit bullets of words to the comedian.

IN-DEPTH

Vir Das is one of India’s top satirical performers, known for his sharp takes on the issues and scenarios of the country. Lately, on Monday while he uploaded his video "Two India" on his youtube channel, apart from attracting fans, he unprecedentedly garnered innumerable critics, with boiling and contradictory comments, slamming him for exploiting the country's name on foreign soil.

Kangana Ranaut outrightly slammed Das, calling the video “soft terrorism” and writing on Instagram: “Strict action should be taken against such criminals.”

“I come from an India where we worship women during the day and gang rape them at night,” Das told a packed Washington, DC, venue during his current world tour.

In a nearly seven-minute-long video he covered issues ranging from air pollution, journalism, and Modi’s coronavirus relief efforts to cricket.

“I come from an India where we bleed blue every time we play green,” he said, referring to the sporting uniforms of his country and archrival Pakistan.

“But every time we lose to green, we turn orange all of a sudden.” Orange refers to muscular Hindu nationalism, often symbolized by the colour saffron.

“I come from an India that will watch this and know there is a gigantic joke. It just isn’t funny,” he said.

Soon after Das released the video on social media, users accused him of insulting India on the global stage, and at least two police complaints were filed against him.

Das took to Twitter insisting the video was a “satire about the duality of two separate Indias that do different things”.

“Like any nation has light and dark, good and evil within it,” he posted.

The backlash against Das is not the first time an Indian comic has come under fire from right-wing Hindu groups and activists.

Comedian Munawar Faruqui was held in prison for more than a month after being accused of insulting Hindu gods and goddesses. This month, he cancelled three shows in Mumbai after a Hindu right-wing group threatened to set the venue on fire.

Priti Gandhi slammed the comedian and took to her Twitter handles

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