Sanchita
Munmun Dutta is popular for her role as Babita Iyer on Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah.
Recently, the actress created a controversy after using a casteist slur while doing a video.
In the clip that’s now going viral, Munmun can be heard saying – “Lip tint ko halka sa blush ki tarah laga liya hai because main YouTube pe aane wali hoon aur main achha dikhna chahti hoon. Bh***i ki tarah nahi dikhna chahti hoon.” (I have put lip tint on as a light blush because I will be coming on Youtube and I want to look good. I don’t want to look like a bh***i)
For the uninitiated, ‘bhangi’ was a term coined by upper castes in the 19th century for the members of the Dalit caste employed in sanitation and manual scavenging.
Munmun immediately faced the social media’s wrath for using the casteist remark and #ArrestMunmunDutta even started trending on Twitter after the video went viral. She later took to Instagram to issue an official apology, citing ‘language barrier’ as the issue!
“This is in reference to a video that I posted yesterday where in one word used by me has been misinterpreted. It was never said with the intent to insult, intimidate, humiliate or hurt anyone’s feelings.”
“Because of my language barrier, I was genuinely misinformed about the meaning of the word. Once I was made aware of its meaning I immediately took the part down. I have utmost respect for every single person from every caste, creed or gender and acknowledge their immense contribution to our society or nation. I sincerely would like to apologize to every single person who has been unintentionally hurt by the usage of the word,” she wrote.
What do you think of this whole controversy?
