Sai Pallavi In Legal Trouble; Complaint Filed Over Her Controversial Remarks On Kashmir

Actor Sai Pallavi has now landed in legal soup over her remarks during a YouTube interview on the lynching of a Muslim man who was accused of smuggling cattle and likening of the incident to the Kashmiri Pandit exodus. Her comment on the show prompted a Hindutva outfit, Bajrang Dal, in Hyderabad to file a complaint against the actor.

Sai Pallavi who was promoting her latest Telugu film Virata Parvam which was released on June 17, during the interview was questioned about her political ideology. The actor while talking about politics, her ideology also discussed the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in the early 1990s, the film The Kashmir Files and the recent incidents of lynching of Muslim persons suspected to be cow smugglers.

"The film The Kashmir Files depicts the assassination of Kashmiri Pandits. A man was recently slain for carrying a cow because he was suspected of being a Muslim. The perpetrators shouted `Jai Shri Ram` after killing the victim. Where is the line drawn between what occurred in Kashmir and what occurred recently," she questioned in the interview while stating that she was raised in a politically neutral home and thus is politically neutral.

She also said that a large number of people oppressing minority groups is wrong. "A battle has to be fought between two equals. You need to protect the oppressed. Their stature isn’t important," she said.

Suggested Reading: Why Sai Pallavi’s Anti-Violence Statement Getting Unwarranted Hate Is Problematic

Complaint Against Sai Pallavi

The Bhagyanagar unit of the Bajrang Dal displayed their complaint letter on Twitter and observed that a case was filed against Pallavi at the Sultanbazar Police Station pertaining to her remark during an interview. They demanded that the actor issue an apology to the entire country, especially to Kashmiri Pandits for her "venomous" comments.

The Right-wing outfit then threatened that if she fails to do so, the "situation will deteriorate further".

"Bajrangdal Vidyanagar Zilla Samyojak @akhilsindoleji & @AbhishekKurma Balopasama Kendra pramukh filed a case against Sai Pallavi at Sultanbazar PS @Sai_Pallavi92. Apologize to whole country especially Kashmiri Hindus for your derogatory remarks or else it will get worse," the right-wing outfit wrote.

While some the admirers of the actor defended her views on social media, she was largely criticised by many and people drew comparisons that a man's lynching over a mere suspicion was not comparable to genocide.

"In spite of being subject to mass killings & exodus, Kashmiri Pandits never played the victim card. That’s why Sai Pallavi cannot differentiate between the unfortunate killing of one man and the catastrophic genocide of an entire community," a Twitter user wrote in response to her comments.

While another one commented, "There is a huge difference in a random Muslim being beaten & an entire community being uprooted. Please don't trivialise my pain. Come & see any of our broken homes & hearts. We are witnesses to Genocide but await justice. Not Everything is Propaganda."