Sidhu didn’t support Pakistan, says Kapil

Naina Mishra
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 18

Amid the buzz around Punjab Cabinet Minister and member of “The Kapil Sharma Show” Navjot Singh Sidhu being replaced on the popular comedy show, comedian Kapil Sharma refused to confirm it during an interaction with the Press held at Chandigarh University today.

A day after the dastardly suicide attack in Pulwama, in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed, Sidhu had stated, “Nations cannot be blamed just for a handful of people. These people have no country, no religion. They act as deterrents in the peace process. We need to deal with them strictly”.

Clarifying Sidhu’s statement on the Pulwama terror attack, Sharma said, “Sidhu did not support Pakistan by saying that we cannot blame the nation for the dastardly act, what he said was that terrorism has no nation.”

Sharma said the controversy surrounding Sidhu was because of his previous visit to Pakistan and after the recent controversy in the wake of the Pulwama attack, people wanted him out of the show.

Sidhu’s statement drew widespread condemnation from all quarters of the country with hashtags like #BoycottSidhu #BoycottKapilSharmaShow and #BoycottSonyTV trending on Twitter.

Several people took to Twitter to demand that “The Kapil Sharma Show”, on which Sidhu has been a staple for several years now, should sack him for his remarks.

“If the issue of terrorism could be solved by ousting him from the show, we would have requested Sidhu to leave the show. There is always propaganda behind Twitter trends. The youth are directed to different issues through such propaganda-motivated tweets like #BoycottKapilSharma #BoycottSidhu,” he added.

It was learnt that actress Archana Puran Singh will replace Sidhu on the comedy show.

Asked whether Sidhu would be seen on the show, he said, “As he had some commitment, Archana Puran Singh has shot two episodes. It is ultimately the decision of the channel.” Sharma condemned the Pulwama attack.