Twitter erupts in chaos over Shivaji joke by comedian; received rape and death threats
If any of you, with even the remotest sense of humor, have seen the viral clip of a sketch performed by Agrima Joshua last year, you probably laughed at the moment that has garnered Joshua extreme ire on social media and even rape and death threats from various factions of the country, especially the followers of Chattrapati Shivaji; a historical figure lovingly known as Shivaji Maharaj and famous for his undebatable legacy of building a progressive state.
The news cycle has been dominated by the Mumbai-based stand-up comic Agrima Joshua, who has been forced to bear with multiple rape threats, verbal abuse, and even death threats hurled at her, for as long as two days over a joke she used while performing at a Mumbai gig in 2019. In the video that has gone viral, Agrima talks about Chhatrapati Shivaji’s up and coming statue in Maharashtra and some interesting things about it she read on the Q&A site Quora.
Artists are not unbeknownst to criticism, it is the part and parcel of making content in this digital age. Yet, criticism does not encompass hurling death threats, verbal abuses, and rape threats at people just because one doesn’t agree with them. This kind of maltreatment of artists not only transforms into something unmistakably evil but is also representative of the narrow mindedness infesting Indian culture.
The hullabaloo has been caused by Joshua who in her act said that a Quora user had said that the Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj sculpture will be equipped with a GPS tracker and will be able to shoot laser beams out of its eyes to murder Pakistani terrorists in the Arabian Sea.
After one year, the video of this joke from Joshua’s gig has become infamous, shared widely via social networking media with a few people blaming her for dishonoring the memory of Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji.
Joshua had performed a sketch in April last year, which the video was supposedly a part of, at a bistro in Mumbai’s Khar (West). Furious social media users even went to the lengths of sharing personal details of the bistro’s representatives, while individuals from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) supposedly barged into the bistro on Saturday and vandalized property.
Bowing to developing requests for activity against Joshua, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh requested that police make lawful moves against the humorist and asked everybody to stay calm, saying that the law will follow through with this. These kinds of prosecutions set a precedent in taking away the very foundation of a free republic which lies in being able to have space to voice dissent.
Later in a video posted to Twitter, Joshua apologized for harming the opinions of the acolytes of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and even cut out the segment that started the discussion out of the bigger YouTube video.
https://twitter.com/Agrimonious/status/1281617819671474176?s=20
While the piece of her performance where she featured some amusing answers on Quora about the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj sculpture was actually meant as a dig at the Maharashtra administration for splurging hard-earned citizens’ cash at building statues rather than on tackling serious issues, her joke didn’t go down well with many, particularly with an Instagram “influencer” Shubham Mishra who lives in Gujarat’s Vadodara.
Shubham Mishra, whose Instagram bio says “fearless, carefree and bold” in Hindi— Bekhauf, Bindaas, Bebaak— posted a video on his handle wherein he maligned and abused, not just Agrima Joshua but her mother and sister as well.
The video shot inside a vehicle, reminiscent of Bigg Boss fame Hindustani Bhau, Shubham was quite “fearless and bold” as he clarified in graphic detail that he will “assault her from behind” which does not even merit being expounded on.
This is a much-restrained rendition and not even 50% of what Shubham Mishra really said. Oh, and he even ends his tirade by saying he respects women. As if we needed proof of that.
Shubham Mishra’s vile rape threats to Agrima Joshua being extremely disturbing have angered numerous people on social media and the issue has even been discussed by many celebrities like Mallika Dua, Swara Bhasker Sumukhi Suresh, and Kunal Kamra who asked the Mumbai and Gujarat Police and the National Commission for Women to make a severe move against him. Several netizens have additionally clamored for his arrest, with #ArrestShubhamMishra is inclined on Twitter for most of Sunday. In the face of prosecution against Joshua, it is important to voice one’s opinion against the jingoistic thugs trying to culturally hijack and appropriate a historical figure for their perverse political agendas.
You are NOT allowed to rape and threaten to rape us.
— Sumukhi Suresh (@sumukhisuresh) July 12, 2020
You are NOT allowed to sexually assault and threaten to do that.
You canNOT say “we respect ladies” and then tell us to “shut up or we will rape you and your mothers on the road”.
Dear @NCWIndia does this concern you, we see this scumbag give open threats to a female comedian who has already apologised & taken her objectionable video down… pic.twitter.com/c7OiHf0yUl
— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) July 11, 2020
Before long Mishra erased the video from his Instagram account, yet despite everything he stands by his words. He even uploaded a video on his YouTube channel with an avocation for the unspeakable threats and abuses he flung at Joshua.
“My aim was not that. People are taking it off-kilter. I am saying ‘sorry’ for the video I made out of resentment. In any case, I am by no means prepared to accept that I gave rape threats to anyone. My goal was not that. I am not of loose character,” Mishra legitimizes in his YouTube video.
This kind of reaction, especially against a woman in the limelight, is not unknown. Many celebrities, journalists, and women comedians are no stranger to the vilest of abuses including, but not limited to, death and rape threats. Recently, award-winning journalist, Rana Ayyub, author of Gujarat Files, also faced similar backlash on social media for voicing her opinion regarding the killing of the 65-year old Bashir Ahmad Khan in Kashmir.
This battle is fought by every opinionated woman in not just our country, but the world over. And god forbid, those are political opinions because then there is no end to such treatment. Any woman who has ever expressed an opinion, even slightly different from that of the majority, deeply patriarchal groups has been at the receiving end of rape threats— after all, women are just their reproductive organs.
After a public outcry on social media, the Vadodara Police on Sunday evening said it has made a suo moto move in the issue and arrested Shubham Mishra. Police said it has started a legitimate procedure for the registration of an FIR against him under the applicable segments of IPC and IT act.
“Vadodara City Police made a suo moto move in regard to an abusive, threatening video that was uploaded and shared on social media by Shubham Mishra. We have arrested him and started a legitimate procedure for registering an FIR against him under the suitable sections of the IPC and IT act,” Vadodara Police said in a tweet.
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.
— Vadodara City Police (@Vadcitypolice) July 12, 2020
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
The National Commission for Women (NCW) additionally sought immediate action from Gujarat Police against Mishra for reviling and giving rape threats to Joshua via social media.
In a letter to Gujarat Director General of Police (DGP) Shivanand Jha, the NCW said a video was posted on Twitter on which they were tagged, in which the man can be seen maligning Joshua and threatening to rape her.
The Gujarat Police has recognized the incident on Twitter, however, is yet to freely share any details on whether any move has been made against Mishra as of yet.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh too on Sunday tended to the objections against Mishra’s video and said Mumbai Police will make suitable lawful action against him according to the rules.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj taught us to respect women.But if someone is using/threatening the wrong language about women, then there is a law for them. @MahaCyber1 verify this video. @CPMumbaiPolice take appropriate legal action against the person in the video as per the rules. https://t.co/4zxwOTIh0r
— ANIL DESHMUKH (@AnilDeshmukhNCP) July 12, 2020
“Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj instructed us to respect ladies. In any case, on the off chance that somebody is utilizing/threatening in inappropriate language about women, at this point there is a law for them. @MahaCyber1 check this video. @CPMumbaiPolice make proper lawful moves against the individual in the video according to the standards,” Deshmukh said in a tweet.
Agrima has since apologized for her ‘ behavior’ and even taken down the video of her performance. This is proof of the fact that safe spaces for women—opinionated or not— in our country, both online and offline, are nothing but a mirage.
