India's Got Latent Controversy: MPs Raise Issue Of Allahbadia's Comments At Parliamentary Panel Meet, Call For Punishment

The controversy around Ranveer Allahbadia's remarks dominated headlines yet another day after a parliamentary panel on Thursday asked the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to submit a note on the issue by February 17 and Assam police summoned the influencer.

Allahbadia, who has apologised for his comments dubbing it as a "lapse in judgement", failed to appear in connection with a probe into his controversial comments on Samay Raina's now-deleted YouTube show "India's Got Latent". He was asked to remain present at Mumbai's Khar police station on Friday, an official said.

At a meeting of the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, members from different parties voiced concern over Allahbadia's comments and called for stringent measures to punish him and to ensure that such an incident does not recur.

The Mumbai police as well as Maharashtra Cyber Department have also asked Raina, who was a part of the controversial reality show "India's Got Latent", to appear before them in the next five days.   Allahbadia, who was expected to visit the Khar police station on Thursday, did not turn up, and told police that he was afraid of the media, an official said.

The Assam Police has also asked Allahbadia, Chanchlani, Raina, Jaspreet Singh and Apoorva Makhija to be present in person in connection with a case filed in Guwahati for allegedly promoting obscenity in a publicly accessible online show.

A team of the cyber police from Assam is currently in Mumbai. The comedians will have to be present in person within four days, Guwahati Joint Commissioner of Police Ankur Jain told reporters here on Thursday.

This comes just days after Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske raised the issue in Parliament as he called for a law to regulate social media.

On Wednesday night, musician A R Rahman became the latest celebrity to have joined the growing discourse around Allahbadia's comment, which many have deemed "vulgar" and "irresponsible".

At the "Chhaava" audio launch, the music maestro said the past week has been all about "what happens when the mouth opens" as he made an oblique reference to the raging controversy surrounding Allahbadia. At the event, held on Wednesday night in Mumbai, Kaushal asked Rahman to describe his music using "just three emojis".

"You want me (to) keep my mouth closed," Rahman said after some contemplation, referring to the emoji.

"I think in the past week we have seen what all happens when mouth opens," he added, eliciting laughter from both Kaushal and the audience. To which Kaushal replied: "Talk about roasting." On Wednesday, Raina announced that he was deleting all episodes of "India's Got Latent" and that he will fully cooperate with all the investigating agencies in their probe. The comedian said it was "too much to handle" for him.

The Mumbai Police have so far recorded the statements of seven persons, including social media influencer Apoorva Makhija, in connection with controversial comments, officials said on Thursday.

A team of the Assam Police is also in Mumbai to investigate a case in connection with the controversy, an official said.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has also asked Allahbadia, Raina, and other panellists Mukhija, Jaspreet Singh, and Ashish Chanchlani, as well as the show's producers Tushar Poojari and Saurabh Bothra to appear before it on February 17 in New Delhi.

Chanchalani, who was scheduled to host the screening of Hollywood film "Captain America: Brave New World" on Valentine's Day, said he was skipping the event citing health concerns.

Amid criticism, there were some voices of support like fashion influencer Uorfi Javed and actor Rakhi Sawant for Raina.

Munawar Faruqui, who has had his fair share of run-ins with the law, openly came out in support of Raina and compared the fellow comic's art to a "spring" which cannot be suppressed.

"Samay (heart emoji)... Art joh hai woh spring ki hai, jitnaa dabaoge utnaa uper uthega... My G is going to come out so strong you will see," Faruqui wrote on his Instagram Story.

Upcoming comic Sharon Verma, one of the winners on "India's Got Latent", defended Raina after he deleted all episodes of the reality web series from his YouTube channel.

"IGL gave me so much man. it was the reason I could actually pursue this dream of doing comedy. cant believe how its turned out. Samay’s genuinely been a big brother to us (sic)" Verma wrote on X.

Rapper Raftaar, Raina's friend who has also appeared as a panellist on "India's Got Latent", without taking any names rallied behind the comic.

"People often enjoy seeing successful individuals fail... It's worth reflecting on why we feel this way, questioning whether it's about justice or soothing our own insecurities (sic)," he wrote in his Instagram Story.

Actor Saqib Saleem also weighed in on the issue.

"I haven't seen the exact clip but I just want to say that people with influence have a moral responsibility. But also now I feel like we've gotten into this space of cancel culture... You need to be morally responsible for what you say, but the other flip side of all of that is that you'll cancel the person immediately. And the after effects of that could also be very damaging to somebody," Saleem told PTI.

Comics Vir Das and Aditi Mittal have also called out TV media and asked authorities to get their priorities straight.

Calling Allahbadia a "mouthpiece of the current government", comic Aditi Mittal criticised the influencer for spreading misogyny, misinformation, bigotry, and communalism through his podcasts.

"YouTubers have more views than all TV channels put together. A politician will have to take a subscription to YouTube to see that show... Because nothing (else) is happening in the country," she said in an Instagram video hours before Raina announced that he was removing all episodes of "India's Got Latent".

Allahbadia and Raina have received support from fashion influencer Uorfi Javed and actor Rakhi Sawant. PTI KR DC SSG RDS  BK BK