Sunday, 23 March 2025
Sunday, 23 March 2025
1. Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul on Koffee with Karan
On January 6, 2019, cricketers Hardik Pandya and K.L. Rahul found themselves trapped in a massive public outrage after their controversial remarks on the celebrity talk show Koffee With Karan. Pandya openly boasted about his relationships, hookups and objectified women in a manner that many found offensive. He also spoke about how he bragged to his parents about his sexual encounters, stating, “Main karke aya hai aaj [I had sex today].” Another statement that sparked outrage was, “I'm little from the black side so I need to see how they move” when asked about his approach to women.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) issued a provisional suspension against both players, forcing them to return home from India's tour of Australia. The controversy also cost Pandya his endorsement deal with Gillette, and he was dropped from the team, with Tamil Nadu's Vijay Shankar replacing him.
Pandya later apologised on Twitter, stating that he got “carried away.”
2. Kamal Nath's 'item'
On October 18, 2020, Madhya Pradesh’s former chief minister Kamal Nath triggered a political controversy by referring to Imarti Devi, a former state minister, as an “item” during a campaign rally in Dabra. While addressing the crowd, Nath said, “Our candidate is not like her… what’s her name? You know her better... ye kya item hai”
3. Ramesh Bidhuri’s ‘smooth as Priyanka’s cheeks’ comment
On January 5, BJP leader Ramesh Bidhuri promised during an election rally in Delhi’s Kalkaji to make the roads in his constituency “as smooth as” Congress leader “Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s cheeks.”
4. Kerala professor: Women in jeans give birth to transgenders
In April 2018, a professor from Kerala, Rajith Kumar faced severe public backlash after declaring at a state health campaign in Kasargode: “A woman who dresses like a man… what will be the character of her child? The child will be transgender.”.
The Kerala government, led by Health Minister KK Shailaja, announced legal action against Kumar for propagating ‘superstitious and offensive’ beliefs. However, this was not his first controversy; in 2013, he was booed by female students after making sexist remarks.
Kumar defended himself in a Facebook video, claiming: “Only a few statements were taken out of my four-hour lecture to create a misunderstanding.”
5. Justice Markandey Katju
On January 30, 2015, former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju posted on X: “I regard Shazia Ilmi much more beautiful than Kiran Bedi. If Shazia had been made their CM candidate, BJP would have definitely won Delhi.”
6. Mukesh Khanna on #MeToo
On October 31, 2020, veteran actor Mukesh Khanna made a statement, blaming working women for the rise of the #MeToo movement. In a widely circulated interview, Khanna stated, “The problem of #MeToo began when women started working. A woman’s job is to take care of the house.”
7. Payal Rohatgi’s defence of Sati
On May 26, 2019, actress Payal Rohatgi started a controversy by glorifying the banned practice of Sati. She tweeted a video, “Truth behind Sati Pratha in India" and called Raja Ram Mohan Roy a 'traitor'. The tweet was captioned: "#Jauhar was an incident related to Padmavati [movie] during Mughal Khiljis invasion. Later society, with the help of traitors like Raja Ram, who Britishers used to divide society, made Sati into an evil forceful practice.”
Rohatgi later claimed she was merely discussing history.
