.jpg?rect=0%2C0%2C1920%2C1080&auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
Actor Randeep Hooda took to Twitter to approve of Virender Sehwag’s reaction to Gurmehar Kaur’s post.
Journalists Barkha Dutt and Shekhar Gupta, however, stepped in to lodge their protests.
Gupta was not impressed by Sehwag’s and Hooda’s posts, accusing both of them of resorting to low tactics to mock the 20-year-old daughter of a Kargil martyr.
Gurmehar Kaur had released a video on Thursday, where she expressed her thoughts about the ABVP. She did so by holding up cards that read her message against the organisation. Virender Sehwag’s tweet was a reply in the same format.
The entire exchange started with Virender Sehwag’s reply to Kaur, which Hooda applauded.
Shekhar Gupta replied to both Hooda and Sehwag, expressing his own disappointment at their tweets.
Hooda then proceeded to claim that Gurmehar was a “poor girl” who was being used as a political pawn.
Gupta was quick to rubbish Hooda’s claim, defending Kaur and referring to her as a “strong, thinking adult”.
In response, Kaur said that she was not a pawn and that she condemned violence in every form.
Gupta took Kaur’s side once again, saying that while any interpretation was allowed, it needed to be backed by debate and not mockery – which he accused Hooda of.
Hooda tried calming the situation by claiming that he was simply admiring Sehwag’s quick wit on Twitter – for which he has acquired quite a bit of fame.
That’s when Barkha Dutt joined the fray, exercising her own freedom of speech after Hooda defended Sehwag for expressing his.
After regarding Kaur as a ‘pawn’ and a ‘prop’, Hooda appeared to backtrack a little, asking everyone to ‘not politicise the young girl’s thoughts’.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)