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HomeIndiaActor Siddharth clarifies tweet on Saina Nehwal referred to 'cock & bull',...

Actor Siddharth clarifies tweet on Saina Nehwal referred to ‘cock & bull’, as NCW cracks down

Siddharth called Saina world’s 'subtle cock champion' in response to her tweet on PM Modi's 'security breach'. NCW chief lodges police complaint, asks Twitter to take action.

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New Delhi: Film actor Siddharth Monday responded to widespread criticism of a tweet he had directed at badminton player Saina Nehwal, even as National Commission for Women chair Rekha Sharma took up the matter with the Maharashtra Police. 

Siddharth had on 6 January hit out at Nehwal for her tweet on the alleged breach in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security in Punjab last week. Nehwal had tweeted that she condemned the “cowardly attack on PM Modi by anarchists”.

— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 5, 2022

Quoting Nehwal’s tweet, Siddharth said “Subtle cock champion of the world”, in an apparent wordplay on the shuttlecocks used in badminton. He added, “Shame on you #Rihanna,” in an apparent reference to Nehwal’s February 2021 response to singer Rihanna’s tweet on the farmers’ protest.

After four days of criticism and accusations of misogyny, Siddharth claimed Monday that he had intended to refer to the idiom cock-and-bull story, i.e. “an absurd, improbable story presented as the truth”.

“‘COCK & BULL’ That’s the reference,” the actor tweeted, adding, “Nothing disrespectful was intended.”

However, several public figures, including Saina’s husband and fellow badminton player Parupalli Kashyap and playback singer Chinmayi Sripaada, refused to accept this as a defence. 

NCW action

Just before Siddharth’s clarification, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma had weighed in to the issue Monday, saying that the actor “needs a lesson or two”, and questioned Twitter on why his account had not yet been suspended.

The NCW later announced that Sharma had written to Maharashtra Police to register an FIR in the matter and had requested Twitter to take action against Siddharth. 

Siddharth is known for his work in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films from the early 2000s onwards, with credits such as Boys (2003), Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005) and Rang De Basanti (2006).

(Edited by Rohan Manoj)


Also read: Will probe if BJP arm-twisted celebs, says Maharashtra minister on tweets over farmer protests


 

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