Activists slam actor Siddharth over his 'sexist' comment on Saina Nehwal

Various activists have slammed actor Siddharth over his recent comments on shuttler Saina Nehwal calling it "sexist, misogynistic" and demanded that he should apologise to Nehwal.

"Tweet by actor Siddharth responding to shuttler Saina Nehwal is sexist, misogynistic. Irrespective of people's political views no need to make such crass remarks targeting a woman of accomplishments. He must apologize, and Twitter should suspend his account," said Activist Brinda Adige.

Similarly, Woman activist M. Varalaxmi called actor's tweets "an attempt to be in limelight" and said "Just because he is a celebrity doesn't mean he can comment on a woman sportsperson. Usually, celebrities stay active on social media and this was an attempt to be in limelight."

The actor had in a Twitter post on January 6 retweeted a post by Nehwal in which she had expressed her concern over the security breach of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Punjab visit on January 5.

Raising concerns over the Prime Minister's convoy being stopped for 15-20 minutes on a flyover in Punjab's Bathinda as the road was blocked by protesting farmers, the ace badminton player tweeted: "No nation can claim itself to be safe if the security of its own PM gets compromised. I condemn, in the strongest words possible, the cowardly attack on PM Modi by anarchists."

Retweeting her post, Siddharth wrote, "Subtle cock champion of the world... Thank God we have protectors of India. Folded hands. Shame on you Rihanna."

The NCW in a statement today said that the comment by the actor was "misogynist and outrageous to the modesty of a woman amounting to disrespect and insult to the dignity of women on social media platforms."

The actor also responded that he did not mean to disrespect anyone and his "subtle cock" tweet contained no kind of insinuation.

"Cock and bull. That's the reference. Reading otherwise is unfair and leading. Nothing disrespectful was intended, said or insinuated. Period," he tweeted.

( With inputs from ANI )

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