Vir Das in 2014.
Aaron Davidson / Getty Images
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Aaron Davidson / Getty Images
Vir Das in 2014.
Aaron Davidson / Getty Images
When comedian Vir Das performed his “Two Indias” monologue on stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC last weekend, he spoke about two distinctly different aspects of his native India. : rich and poor, united but also divided on politics, women’s rights, Bollywood movies and cricket teams.
His performance also ended with two quite different reactions.
While the crowd at the Kennedy Center went wild with applause, some Indians back home were less enthusiastic. And politicians from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party have filed a number of legal cases against Das.
In the capital New Delhi, the vice chairman of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, Aditya Jha, tweeted his clips told a nationalist TV channel, saying he “will not tolerate anyone insulting our nation in another country.”
“I will bring this fight to a decisive end,” Jha said. “I want Vir Das arrested so no one can be mean to the country like this.”
In Mumbai, a legal adviser from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party filed a police complaint against Das for allegedly “smearing & damaging the image of India.”
“He purposely wrote statements that incite & insult India, Indian women and Prime Minister of India,” the lawyer said. Ashutosh Dubey tweeted, including a photograph of the legal documents he submitted.
Police confirmed that they had received multiple complaints, but did not say if or when charges might be filed.
The line in Das’ monologue that seems to offend these politicians most is: “I come from India, where we worship women by day and rape them by night.”
It’s not completely baseless. Three years ago, a Controversial survey India ranks as the most dangerous place in the world for women, because of the risk of sexual violence. Just this week, a US Department of State’s new travel advisory said that “rape is one of the fastest growing crimes in India” and urged Americans to “increase caution” in general.
In his monologue, Das also mocks the prime minister and the hypocrisy of all politicians, and suggests that India’s democracy may be dying.
“I represent a great thing, which is to turn into a memory,” he said.
But he also talked about the diversity and resilience of the Indians, and how they lived under the same vast sky.
After the backlash, Das tweeted a clarification that a commentator called the “whispering apology to the crowd.”
Das warns people not to “be fooled by the edited excerpts” of his videos. He reminded them that it was a satire.
“People cheer for India with hope, not hate,” he wrote. “Remember our greatness, and spread love.”
You can Watch a YouTube video of the Das ‘Kennedy Center’ performance here. And Read more comments on the controversy here, in the Indian media.
This story originally appeared in Morning version live blogs.
