Indian comedian Bharti Singh apologised to her fans after being accused of infringing on religious beliefs. A video showing Bharti making fun of beards and moustaches has gone viral, with many criticising her for being insulting to the Sikh community.
The video shows Singh conversing with actor Jasmin Bhasin, who appeared on her comic series ‘Bharti Ka Show’ on Shemaroo Comedy. In the video, Bharti says, "Dhadhi mooch kyu nahi chahiye. Dhadhi mooch ke bade fayede hote hain. Dudh piyo, aise dhadi munh mein daalo, sewaiyon ka taste aata hai. Mere kaafi friends logo ki shaadi hui hai na, jinki itni itni dhaadi hai, saara din dhadi mein se jue nikalti rehti hai.”
After receiving heat for her statements in the video, Singh rushed to Instagram on Monday to apologise. In a video message, she said, "For the past one or two days a video has been going viral. People have also sent this to me, sent messages that I have made fun of beards and moustaches. Please watch that video, I have not mentioned any religion or any caste in it, or that people of this religion keep such beards and face such problems.”
Singh said, "You can watch that video, I never said that Punjabi people keep beards. It was a genuine conversation, I was doing comedy with my friend. A lot of people keep beards and moustaches these days. But if people from any religion or caste have been hurt by my comments, I apologise to them with folded hands. I am a Punjabi myself, born in Amritsar, I will always keep Punjab's honour and I am proud of being a Punjabi."
Singh said in the caption of the post that she does comedy to make people happy and would like people to forgive her as their sister for hurting their feelings. In the comments area, she received encouragement from her fans and friends. "You have the purest heart Bharti, you can never hurt anyone," actor Mahhi Vij remarked. Actress Divya Agarwal commented, "Why are you explaining, Didi? You have an unblemished heart. We adore you.”
Singh is presently co-hosting ‘The Khatra Khatra Show’ with her husband, Haarsh Limbachiyaa. In April of this year, the couple had their first child, a boy.
