The entire Indian Twitterverse is angry and frustrated at how Hardik Pandya’s seemingly easy and casual remarks on the show “Koffee with Karan”. They were full of misogyny, male privilege, and racism. And I do not blame the people on social media for reacting this way, because after having watched the show I too had similar emotions. In fact, he totally deserves all the wrath of social media and news channels he has been receiving and will keep on receiving in the near future. If you haven’t already watched the latest episode of Karan Johar’s controversial show, DON’T. Let us save you from all the cringing.
Image Credit: Star India
Here’re all the problematic remarks by Hardik Pandya-
KJo: Why don’t you ask women’s names at nightclubs?
HP: I like to watch and observe how they move. I’m little from the Black side so I need to see how they move.
Apart from the obvious sexism that reflects from this statement, he also very arrogantly appropriated other culture on numerous occasions by calling himself Black (African). Racism. Racism. Racism.
Hardik Pandya: “When I lost my virginity, I came home and said, “Main karke aya hai aaj”.”
HP: “At a party my parents asked me acha tera wala (women) kaun sa hai so I said yeh, yeh, yeh (pointing out women) and they were like waah proud of u beta.”
Image Credit: Star India
On top of these disrespectful and sexist remarks reeking of male privilege, he also normalized stalking women on Instagram and flirting with several women at a time during his conversation. His casual tone and neglectful language showed how much respect he had for women.
It was also disheartening to see Karan Johar and an otherwise well-behaved K L Rahul laugh off all his sexist and racist remarks. And not to forget the obnoxious references to cheerleaders by all three of them!
This morning Hardik Pandya posted an apology on Twitter saying, “After reflecting on my comments on Koffee with Karan, I would like to apologise to everyone concerned who I may have hurt in any way. Honestly, I got a bit carried away with the nature of the show. In no way did I mean to disrespect or hurt anyone’s sentiments. Respect.”
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) January 9, 2019
I am not sure if this apology counts or if it is even genuine. A Twitter user did a classic translation of Hardik Pandya’s aplogy tweet. Here we go-
Translation: After reflecting on my comments on Koffee With Karan, women have stopped talking to me, brands have stopped approaching me and my ultra cool family is ashamed of me. So my PR agency told me to apologize. Abhi toh meri phati padi hai. https://t.co/pTrYkBsSCy
— Bollywood Gandu (@BollywoodGandu) January 9, 2019
Jokes apart, a lot of this is to be blamed on Karan Johar himself. It was his show, and his inappropriate questions that encouraged those cringe worthy answers.
Reportedly, BCCI has given both the cricketers 24 hours to give an official response regarding their conduct on the show. In fact, the decision of banning cricketers from appearing in such talk shows is also under consideration.
Amidst all the criticism and condescending remarks, we also need to understand where Hardik Pandya is coming from and the kind of cultural shift he has been through. Suddenly becoming rich is a huge cultural shift and sometimes people under such circumstances fail to understand what’s right and what’s wrong. Although, this cannot be an excuse for his behavior; the least we can do is educate instead of attack.
Let us make internet and media more about solutions to such problems, instead of a mere platform for everyone’s reaction.
