The furore over former India trio of Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina allegedly mocking the disabled via a video that went viral on social media continues. Arman Ali, the Executive Director of the National Council for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), has filed a complaint against the world cup winners for ‘insulting’ and ‘making fun’ of ‘more than 10 crore’ disabled people of India.
The complaint has been filed with the Amar Colony police station in New Delhi against Instagram (owned by Meta) for violating the Information Technology Act.
After their win over Pakistan Champions in the final of the recent World Championship of Legends – an exhibition T20 tournament held in UK – Harbhajan, Yuvraj and Raina feature in a video where they were pretending to limp set to the song ‘Tauba Tauba‘ purportedly to show the impact of taking part in a competitive cricket match on their ageing bodies.
However, Ali says, “…When I saw the video of Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina where they were pretending like disabled, kind of mockery on a viral song, I think it’s an insult to more than 10 crore disabled people of India.”
He further said that someone like Harbhajan who is a Member of Parliament, should be raising his voice to spread awareness concerning disabilities.
“Harbhajan Singh is an MP, and he should raise his voice for the disabled, but what kind of video he is making?… In India, there is an acute lack of awareness concerning disabilities. You are spreading myth and making fun of them and that’s why I have filed a complaint…,” he said.
Responding to the backlash, Harbhajan deleted the controversial video and apologised on social media but added that it wasn’t intended to offend anyone and was just made in a jest to show how their bodies responded to ‘playing cricket for 15 days’.