By Arré Bench Jul. 15, 2020
Cracking jokes has become a risky business. A few days after Agrima Joshua was given rape threats for an old video, vicious online trolls have now started targeting other comedians. Rohan Joshi has apologised and deactivated his social media accounts, stating that his family is being harassed, while Sahil Shah has issued a video apology.
Cracking jokes has become a risky business. One would think that the consequences for narrating jokes into a microphone might be a few laughs. But rape threats, physical intimidation and online bullying have become the new norm. It started with Agrima Joshua, who was hounded for “offending sentiments”, for an act that was more than a year old.
Since then, online trolls have gone into overdrive, scanning old clips from all comics and launching targeted online attacks on them. Any stand-up bits, with references to historical figures or religion are being dug out and widely shared to point out how these comics are “anti Hindu”. Videos have been made to abuse them, and in the case of Rohan Joshi, his phone number and address were leaked, because of which he had to deactivate his social media accounts.
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A post shared by Rohan Joshi (@mojorojo) on
“Going offline for a few days. Number and address have been leaked, so the last few days have been a circus of abuse, threat, 2 am phone calls and anxious spirals. I’m sorry if I offended anyone’s sentiments with my words and I apologise without any qualifications and reservations for any words I have spoken that have hurt someone’s religious sentiments. Please leave my family alone,” Rohan Joshi wrote in his Instagram post.
A few days back, YouTuber Shubham Mishra had put out a video threatening to rape Agrima Joshua because of a joke that had offended him. He was later arrested by the crime branch of the Vadodara police.
Vadodara City Police took suo moto action in respect of an abusive, threatening video which was uploaded and shared on Social media by Shubham Mishra.
We have detained him and initiated legal process for registration of FIR against him under relevent section of IPC and IT act. pic.twitter.com/XM6J8y4nDx
— Vadodara City Police (@Vadcitypolice) July 12, 2020
Similar was the fate of Imtiyaz Shaikh, who has a YouTube page called “Umesh Dada”. He had also uploaded a similar video threatening the stand-up comic and was arrested by the Mumbai Police, charged under relevant sections of the IT Act and IPC.
Mumbai Police’s Cyber Crime Branch has taken a Suo Moto action in an abusive & threatening video, shared on social media by the accused operating the handle with a pseudonym Umesh Dada. He‘s been arrested & booked under relevent sections of IPC & IT Act #WomensSafety pic.twitter.com/kH1pAbWYUh
— Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) July 13, 2020
While few of these cases attracted attention from the police because of social media outrage, there are countless trolls out there, with anonymous handles, threatening comics and making details of their private life public. This has led to many comics either deactivating their accounts, making them private or issuing apology videos.
“Every single family member has been abused,” said comedian Sahil Shah.
Some of the abuses I’ve got in the past few days have been beyond horrific. Every single family member has been abused. (And this is just one of them.)
I get it. You’re angry. I apologised. Now stop?
Maybe just consider that there is another human on the other side?Sigh. pic.twitter.com/WxDbAJ5w3B
— Sahil Shah 🇮🇳 (@SahilBulla) July 14, 2020
After an avalanche of hate and trolling, Sahil eventually put out a video message stating “If I’ve offended anyone’s sentiments please accept my humble apology.”
If I’ve offended anyone’s sentiments please accept my humble apology.@CMOMaharashtra@authackrey@AnilDeshmukhNCP@nitinraut593@RajThackrey pic.twitter.com/Jemg7bIoQ7
— Sahil Shah 🇮🇳 (@SahilBulla) July 14, 2020
Comedian Aadar Malik too issued a similar apology. Both comedians tagged Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in their tweets.
If my actions and words have hurt anyone’s sentiments, here is my sincere apology. @CMOMaharashtra@authackrey@AnilDeshmukhNCP@nitinraut593@RajThackrey pic.twitter.com/NVH0YesZz8 pic.twitter.com/HZ0nRt69VV
— Aadar Malik (@TheAadarGuy) July 14, 2020
Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said action has been taken against those abusing women. “We will also take further action against Ms. Joshua, who made offensive comments on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, after proper legal consultation,” he tweeted.
कुछ लोगों को सोशल मीडिया पर महिलाओं के बारे में आपत्तिजनक पोस्ट करने के लिए गिरफ्तार किया गया है।जांच अभी भी जारी है।अग्रिमा जोशुआ द्वारा छत्रपति शिवाजी महाराज के बारे में पहले से दिए गए बयान पर कानूनी सलाह ली जा रही है और अगर वह दोषी पायी जाती है,तो उसके खिलाफ कार्रवाई की जाएगी। pic.twitter.com/NAhB5D5FIQ
— ANIL DESHMUKH (@AnilDeshmukhNCP) July 13, 2020
While those who disagree with a comic bit can pursue legal means to express their discontent, abusive language, personal trolling and physical violence must invite the strictest possible action from the police. Comedians and their families should not be living in fear for the job of cracking jokes, and the government must ensure they have that liberty.
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