CHENNAI: Actor Siddharth Singh has apologized for mocking badminton player Saina Nehwal for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Siddharth explained that the reply was meant as a joke but it was not received as expected. Siddharth admitted that Saina was also his champion and made it clear that he had never even thought of the meanings people gave to his tweet. Siddharth’s tweet against Saina has drawn criticism for being sexually explicit.
Full version of Siddharth’s letter
Dear Saina Nehwal,
First of all I apologize for the harsh joke I made in response to a tweet from you a few days ago. I may disagree with you on a number of issues. I understand that the frustration and anger I felt when I read your tweet was not enough to justify my words and its meaning.
Now about that joke … just because a joke has to be explained to others means it’s not a very good joke. I apologize for the joke that was not accepted as expected.
But let me repeat that I did not intend to tweet those words with the same bad connotations as those given by different people in different walks of life. As a collaborator of the feminist movement, I did not mean any gender in my tweets. It was not intended to attack you as a woman.
I hope we forget about this and you will receive my letter. You will always be my champion.
yours sincerely
Siddharth
The way the controversy came about
Siddharth’s controversial tweet came in response to a tweet by Saina Nehwal in response to a farmers’ blockade of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s motorcade in Punjab. Saina Nehwal’s husband and badminton player P Chidambaram have accused Siddharth of sexual harassment. Kashyap and Saina’s father were among those present. Rekha Sharma, chairperson of the National Commission for Women, and Khushboo, an actress who defected from the Congress to the BJP, also criticized Siddharth’s remarks. With this, Siddharth also clarified that the references in the tweet were not in a bad sense.
Saina Nehwal, a BJP member, tweeted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high security convoy was blocked by farmers in Ferozepur, Punjab. The Prime Minister had canceled the rally and returned to Delhi after being stranded on a flyover for 20 minutes following a road blockade.
Saina tweeted about the incident:
‘How can a country that does not even have the security of its own prime minister claim to be safe? I strongly condemn the attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi by a group of anarchists, ”Saina tweeted.
Actor Siddharth, who is also a fierce critic of Narendra Modi, immediately responded to the tweet. He later retracted the tweet following the controversy.
English Summary: Siddharth apologises to ‘champion’ Saina Nehwal for controversial tweet: ‘Cannot justify my tone and words’
.