On the auspicious day of Ganesh Chaturthi, while the nation celebrated the festivities, the Northern part of India saw some shocking scenes of violence. A special CBI court in Panchkula found the Dera Sacha Sauda chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, guilty of rape of two saadvis in 2002. The sentence was followed by appalling scenes of violence and riots in states of Punjab and Haryana.
B-town celebrities like Farhan Akhtar, Anupam Kher, and Raveena Tandon were quick to take to social media to condemn the situation.
Anupam wrote, “Violence is what #GurmeetRamRahimSingh seems to have taught his followers. This is nonsense & Govt. needs to use full force to STOP it NOW.” (sic)
Farhan too posted a rather lengthy response to the violence. “To all those on the rampage and all those allowing it to continue, please try and imagine what the victims must feel seeing the violence in support of their rapist... I assume that you, his followers, were taught the meaning and value of compassion... Please end the violence. Please allow the police to do their job. Please allow the law of the land to take its course,” he wrote.
Raveena tweeted, “The way the followers are reacting,rioting,itself proves what the cult was all about...saddened to see such shameful goons on the loose.” (sic)
Esha Gupta and Hansal Mehta too tweeted against the riots. “Again.. riots in the name of religion #RamRahimVerdict.. prayers with all those stuck in the riots stricken areas/states,” wrote Esha. “Thanks to our judiciary democracy lives on. #Pride,” tweeted an optimistic Hansal.
Twinkle Khanna, known to be quite the firebrand on Twitter said, “Our fault Babas exist as we turn towards them like silly sunflowers looking for the sun,forgetting that a halo is just a trick of the light!”(sic)
Rishi Kapoor too took to his social media to condemn the violence. “Attach all Dera properties and sell them to compensate the national loss by arson and vandalism. Shame Gurmeet followers. No respect for you. Frauds.Blind faith in con people. Government must punish these fraudsters.Sukhwinder Kaur(Radhema) Gurmeet,Asaram,Nityananda.All Criminals!” (sic)
Sidharth’s insensitive tweet
Unlike his other fratenity members, actor Sidharth Malhotra called on some real trouble for himself amid the violence after verdict against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, courtesy his thoughtless tweet. While expressing his concern over the situation, he plugged his recently released flick A Gentleman. He was badly trolled for it. However, the star later came up with a clarification and said, “To people who are commenting on my morning tweets, they were made before the verdict ! Thoughts n prayers.”
