Time we educate ourselves: Varun Dhawan, others slam YouTuber for racial remarks on Arunachal MLA

PTI, May 26, 2021, 2:53 PM IST

YouTube Screengrab

Bollywood stars Varun Dhawan, Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Sanon have criticised a YouTuber for his racially abusive remarks towards Arunachal Pradesh MLA Ninong Ering.

Paras Singh, who goes by the name ‘Paras Official’ on his YouTube channel, had in a video posted on Sunday termed Congress MLA Ninong Ering a non-Indian and claimed the “state was a part of China”, sparking furore among Arunchalees as well as people from other parts of the country.

Singh, who was arrested in Ludhiana on Tuesday, was apparently incensed with Ering after the Congress MLA wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking for a ban on the re-launch of PUBG Mobile India’s new avatar Battlegrounds Mobile India.

Filmmaker Amar Kaushik, known for movies “Stree” and “Bala”, was the first from film industry to criticise Singh for his remarks.

“Being ignorant about your country and its region is stupidity in itself, but when that ignorance is expressed in an offensive manner, it becomes toxic.

“We all need to call out and condemn such ignorance in one voice and make all idiots understand that IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE ANYMORE,” he wrote on his Instagram Stories.

Dhawan and Sanon, who stars in Kaushik’s upcoming movie “Bhediya”, which was shot in Arunachal Pradesh, shared the filmmaker’s post on their respective Instagram Stories.

“Having spent so much time in Arunachal Pradesh, it’s time we educate ourselves and others about how wrong this is,” Dhawan wrote.

Sanon said it is high time people start respecting every individual of the country with “equal respect”.

“What’s wrong with people!! It’s high time we treat every individual and every region of our country with equal respect. A Thank you for talking about this @amarkaushik,” she wrote in her post.

Rao, who worked with Kaushik for 2018 horror comedy “Stree”, simply shared the filmmaker’s post.

“Totally Unacceptable,” wrote “Pataal Lok” star Abhishek Banerjee on his Instagram account alongside Kaushik’s post.

Singh had apologised for his remarks in yet another YouTube video on Monday.

Ludhiana Police, under close monitoring of Arunachal Police, arrested him after tracing his whereabouts. He was also charged with inciting ill will and hatred towards the people of the northeastern state.