Raghav Juyal, an actor and television presenter, has been accused of propagating racism on his dance reality show Dance Deewane 3.
Juyal was seen making remarks about Momos and Chow Mein in one show before introducing a contestant named Gunjan Singh, a little girl from Assam. The clip appears to be outdated, as the host has already apparently left the show.
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Raghav Juyal attempted to elicit laughter from his audience before introducing her on stage by making inane statements in what he purported to be Chinese. When questioned what he's talking about by judges Remo D'Souza, Madhuri Dixit, and others, Juyal says they won't understand him and then introduces Gunjan Singh as a girl whose "Chinese" may be incomprehensible, but her dancing is understood by all.
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"Meet the little girl whose Chinese may not be indecipherable, but her dance is understood by everyone…
"Her name is Gunjan Singh, and she's from Assam," Juyal explains.
The television presenter's Chinese jibes at the Assam competitor did not sit well with social media users, who denounced him and demanded Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and the Assam Police to take action against him.
Many others were taken aback by the casualness with which racism was propagated under the pretext of humour.
Juyal's discriminatory remarks on Assamese people enraged social media users, who demanded an unconditional apology from him.
Raghav Juyal published a statement after the video went viral, claiming that the joke was inspired by something the child said before. He claimed that the girl previously claimed she could speak Chinese, which turned out to be nonsense, and that it has since been a joke on the show.
"I am sorry if my introduction has hurt you," Juyal added. It was neither my nor the channel's intention to do so". Finally, he advised internet users to view the entire episode and show before passing judgement on him based on a minute clip.
Punjab police arrested popular YouTuber Paras Singh earlier this year after a charge was filed against him for making a discriminatory remark against Ninong Ering in one of his videos.
Paras referred to Ering as a non-Indian and Arunachal Pradesh as a Region of china. It came after a Congress lawmaker wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting that the re-launch of PUBG Mobile India's new incarnation Battlegrounds Mobile India be banned. On May 27, the Youtuber was taken to Itanagar. He was also taught about the history and culture of Arunachal Pradesh, as well as the international border that separates India and China. Paras has been taken into custody by the authorities.