What’s the story?
The awkward exchange of words regarding the Gurmehar Kaur incident seems to be never ending; people from all spheres raised their voices and gave opinions, including Virender Sehwag. In a recent turn of events, lyricist Javed Akhtar made a very bold comment on his Twitter handle and received criticisms from the wrestling fraternity.
Mahaveer Phogat, in reply, tweeted, “I spent a lifetime trying to win medals for this country, and they didn’t spare a moment to call me illiterate. There’s no man more knowledgeable than the one who has dedicated his life to the nation. Jai Hind.”
In case you didn’t know…
Gurmehar Kaur, the daughter of martyr Captain Mandeep Kaur, started a social media campaign which went viral following the violence at the Ramjas College on February 22. As a form of protest, Gurmehar set a profile picture in which she was holding a placard which stated, “I am not afraid of ABVP.”
Earlier last year, Kaur launched a #profileforpeace campaign with the intention of bringing about peace and harmony between India and Pakistan. The Ramjas College student urged the government of both the countries to solve the never ending problem among them.
Her tweet from last year has caused a lot of furore in the last few days and a host of celebrities have expressed their views on the same.
The heart of the matter
Olympic medal winner Yogeshwar Dutt was not pleased with Javed Akhtar’s comment, especially the term “hardly illiterate” was too much to bear for the wrestler. Mahavir Phogat, the veteran wrestler, on whom the popular movie “Dangal” was based on, was quite offended with Javed Akhtar’s tweet as well.
Even filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar got involved in the clash of words and clearly stated that education should not be considered as a benchmark and should not stop anyone from expressing their views.
Madhur Bhandarkar's Tweet
What's next?
As per the reports of Hindustan Times, Gurmehar has left New Delhi after receiving threats. The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson, Swati Maliwal has urged the police to take action against the suspects who have been giving threats to the English Literature student.
Sportskeedas Take
It was not a surprise to see former cricketer Virender Sehwag making a light joke about the matter, as he has been entertaining the cyber world with his witty posts for the past 6 months. But the statement by lyricist Javed Akhtar was quite uncalled for and being a popular figure in the film industry and the country, he should have been more careful with his use of words.
