Siddharth vs Nehwal: NCW asks DGP Maharashtra to take action as actor defends ‘lewd’ comments on shuttler

On January 5 (Wednesday), there was a huge outrage when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s convoy was stuck on a flyover in Punjab, for close to 20 minutes, due to farmers’ protest. As a result, PM Modi returned to the airport in Bathinda following the lapse. Thus, this led to many reactions across the nation.

Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal also reacted to the development before actor Siddharth — most famously known for his role in Bollywood cult classis Rang De Basanti — joined in and left a distasteful comment on her Twitter post.

Here’s how it all panned out on the social media platform (where Siddharth also issued a clarification):

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Despite Siddharth’s clarification defending his tweets on Nehwal — which have been deemed as sexist and derogatory — the National Commission for Women (NCW) has urged the DGP Maharashtra to look into the matter and take action against the actor. 

“The Commission condemns such lewd and inappropriate remarks made by actor Siddharth and requires you, to immediately investigate the matter and register FIR under the aforementioned provision of Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Information Technology Act, 2000 along-with other relevant provisions of the law. The Police must take prompt and strict action against such persons using indecent language for women on social media,” the Commission said.

The Commission said that Siddharth’s comments invited Section 354A of the Indian Penal Code, covering Sexual Harassment and Punishment for Sexual Harassment in addition to Section 67 of The Information Technology Act, 2000 for Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form.

For the unversed, even Saina reacted to Siddharth’s response. “Ya I’m not sure what he meant. I used to like him as an actor but this was not nice. He can express himself with better words but I guess it’s Twitter and you remain noticed with such words and comments. If the security of the PM of India is an issue then I’m not sure what is secure in the country,” the star shuttler said while talking to News18.com

On the other hand, Siddharth remains a firm critic of the Indian government and is vocal on various developments taking place in the country.