Actor Paresh Rawal receives flak for offensive tweet about Arundhati Roy

MP and actor Paresh Rawal is the latest celebrity to kick up a Twitter storm. On Sunday night, while the country was watching M S Dhoni’s on-field histrionics in the Indian Premier League final, Rawal had his own theatrical moment on Twitter.

The actor, tweeted that author Arundhati Roy should be tied to an Indian Army jeep instead of a stone-pelter.

Instead of tying stone pelter on the army jeep tie Arundhati Roy !

— Paresh Rawal (@SirPareshRawal) May 21, 2017

@SirPareshRawal Why not the person who stitched PDP/BJP alliance ?

— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) May 22,2017

It was not known what was the immediate provocation for the tweet which was retweeted and liked over a thousand times.

Last month, a video was doing the rounds, which showed a man being tied to the front of an Indian Army vehicle, being paraded in a village in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district, as a warning to stone-pelters. Opposition leader, Omar Abdullah tweeted the video then, requesting for urgent inquiry and follow-up.

Here's the video as well. A warning can be heard saying stone pelters will meet this fate. This requires an urgent inquiry & follow up NOW!! pic.twitter.com/qj1rnCVazn

— Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) April 14, 2017

Rawal became an MP from the Ahmedabad East constituency during the 2014 General Elections. The BJP, in coalition with the PDP (Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party), is currently in power in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

Member of Parliament inciting mobs! https://t.co/Ala6kh2qqW

— Swati Chaturvedi (@bainjal) May 22, 2017

Arundhati Roy has been vocal in her criticism about the Indian Army’s behaviour in the Valley and the North-East.

Fantasies of violence against women are the surest sign of cowardice.
And of cow-ards we have no lack. https://t.co/zfBDPF4u60

— Omair Ahmad (@OmairTAhmad) May 21, 2017

Her new novel, ‘The Ministry of Utmost Happiness’, will hit the stands next month, marking the writer’s return to literary fiction after two decades since the ‘The God Of Small Things’ was published.

This is Hindutva in its pristine elements. An actor-parliamentarian proudly and publicly ignorant, bigoted & unconstitutional. https://t.co/MAbMSBZ4oK

— Rohin Dharmakumar (@r0h1n) May 22, 2017

And he is our lawmaker and my favourite actor as well ???? https://t.co/N2pVLyppky

— S l Habib (@irfhabib) May 22, 2017

This sort of a tweet is out-of-character for Rawal, and he was slammed by the Twitterati who alleged that a Parliamentarian was inciting mob violence.

That is an incitement to violence. Probably actionable criminally https://t.co/hySdkiLf3K

— SANJAY HEGDE (@sanjayuvacha) May 21, 2017