I take back my 'harsh' words on Sehwag: Javed Akhtar

March 3, 2017

Mumbai, Mar 3: Noted lyricist Javed Akhtar, who had hit out at Virender Sehwag for his comments on Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur, has said that he takes back his "harsh" words as the cricketer has already clarified his statements.

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"Since Sehwag undoubtedly a great player has clarified he was just being facetious and is not anti Gurmehar I take back my rather harsh words," Akhtar tweeted.

The 71-year-old lyricist had earlier called Sehwag "a hardly literate player" when the cricketer trolled Kaur after her campaign "I am not afraid of ABVP" went viral.

Later, Sehwag, in a series of tweets, had defended himself, claiming that his social media post in reply to Kaur was an "attempt to be facetious" rather than one to bully anyone over their opinion, adding that agreement or disagreement was not even a factor.

Kaur, 20, the daughter of army martyr Captain Mandeep Singh and a student of Lady Sri Ram College, had started the campaign following the violence at Ramjas College.

She withdrew from her social media campaign after allegedly receiving threats.

Akhtar, however, praised cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who had said that the recent events have left him with a sense of disappointment.

"My respect for Gautam Gambhir who with out any fear of trolls and right wing extremists has stood for Gurmehar's freedom of expression. Bravo," he wrote.

"So many war veterans and retired army officers have supported Gurmehar's statement but perhaps they are not "nationalist" enough for some," Akhtar added.

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News Network
May 5,2024

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New Delhi, May 5: Actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut intended to target an opposition leader but mistakenly ended up attacking her BJP colleague instead. 

A similarity in names - Tejashwi and Tejasvi - was behind Ms Ranaut's fumble. "There's a party of spoilt princes... whether it's Rahul Gandhi who wants to grow potatoes on the Moon, or Tejasvi Surya who does hooliganism and eats fish," she had said.

RJD leader and former Bihar deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav was supposed to be the original target of her diatribe as one of his videos where he was seen eating fish became a major flashpoint between the BJP and the opposition recently.

Tejasvi Surya, incorrectly referred to by Ms Ranaut during an election rally yesterday, is BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Bengaluru South constituency in Karnataka.

Meanwhile, Mr Yadav has responded to a clip of Kangana Ranaut's statement. "Ye mohtarma kaun hai?" (Who is this lady?), he posted on X.

Kangana Ranaut has been verbally bashing the Congress party since the BJP fielded her as their Lok Sabha candidate from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi. Congress leaders Vikramaditya Singh - her opponent in Mandi - and Rahul Gandhi have been the main targets on her dartboard.

While addressing a public rally in the Sundernagar area of Mandi Parliamentary Constituency yesterday, Ms Ranaut took a jibe at Mr Singh and Mr Gandhi over dynasty politics and said that both of them have a magic stick for development and talk only about non-practical things.

The Congress hit back saying the 37-year-old actor should first check the facts about her party leaders and speak about dynastic politics. National Media Coordinator for the Congress, Amrit Kaur, also questioned her qualifications on which she got a BJP ticket from Mandi.

The Mandi Lok Sabha constituency will go to polls on June 1, in the seventh phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

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