Two days after the Punjab police booked Bollywood actor Raveena Tandon, director-choreographer Farah Khan and comedian Bharti Singh for hurting the religious sentiments of a community in a comedy show, a petition demanding Bharti being fired from the Kapil Sharma Show has gone viral.
The complaint was filed by Sonu Jafar, the President of the Christian Front of Ajnala Block, alleging that "the religious sentiments of Christians have been hurt". He also submitted video footage of the show aired on the eve of Christmas. The complaint alleged that the three celebrities made fun of word "Hallelujah" in the show 'Back Benchers'.
Sharing a clip from the video, Raveena Tandon said, "Please do watch this link. I haven't said a word that can be interpreted as an insult to any religion. The three of us (Farah Khan, Bharti Singh and I) never intended to offend anyone, but in case we did, my most sincere apologies to those who were hurt."
Farah Khan apologised to everyone on social media and said, "I'm extremely saddened that some sentiments have been inadvertently hurt by a recent episode of my show. I respect all religions, and it would never be my intention to disrespect any. On behalf of the entire team, Raveena Tandon, Bharti Singh and Myself.. we do sincerely apologise."
Now, a petition on Change.Org has been going viral demanding Bharti's removal from The Kapil Sharma Show. Andrew David started the petition, which by the time of writing this report had received 7,167 signatures. The petition asks for 7,500 signatures in total.
The petition reads, "The entire world was celebrating Christmas in December, when three Bollywood actors made a mockery of the biblical word 'Hallelujah' (God be praised (uttered in worship or as an expression of rejoicing) on a show called 'Backbenchers'. I urge everyone to please sign the petition to stop religious mockery."