In a video that was posted in 2019, comedian Agrima Joshua had a couple of jokes (inspired by a Quora post) to crack about the statue of Chatrrapati Shivaji Maharaj. In doing so, she recently offended certain groups of people, especially the Shiv Sena. The government got involved, legal action was taken, and Agrima took down her video while issuing an apology.
I am sorry for having hurt the sentiments of the many followers of the great leader Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. My heartfelt apologies to followers of the great leader, who I sincerely respect. The video has already been taken down. Please amplify.
I watched the video 3 times to find the 'offensive' take against Shivaji. It was just a sarcastic remark about the cretinism & dumbness of Indians, & with the outrage, her point stands validated. #AgrimaJoshua This intolerance will mark the end of india.
Meanwhile, in retaliation to the stand-up act, as many as eight MNS supporters vandalised 'The Habitat', a venue in Khar, Mumbai, where the act was performed, and demanded an apology from Agrima.
What happened at The Habitat must be condemned unconditionally. How was a group of people allowed to gather during a pandemic in the first place? Hooliganism is the way of our society, and artists' freedom of expression counts for nothing, but this is brazen and ridiculous (1/2)
Thank you, to our family 🙏 Hope you are all safe at home during these troubled times.
Soon after, a YouTuber named Shubham Mishra posted a video in which he passed some incredibly vile and derogatory remarks against Agrima while also issuing rape threats to her. This was met with a large amount of censure, including a demand for Shubham's arrest. Trigger Warning:
How is this normal? A person makes grotesque rape threats to a girl openly and we do nothing? How does @YouTubeIndia let this kind of stuff stay. How do @MumbaiPolice @AUThackeray @CMOMaharashtra allow this? What world do we live in? Where are we heading? https://t.co/X3EjpDjbQJ
If this is what it means to be religious, if this is what it means to care about your heritage, then I'll be glad to renounce it all. How anyone can stand behind this, I don't understand. For shame. For shame. https://t.co/RKT3efBqZC
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
Keeping in line with #NCW's commitment towards ensuring safety of #women online, our Chairperson @sharmarekha has written to @dgpgujarat for taking immediate action against Shubham Mishra, the man hurling abuses against a female comedian in this video. @kunalkamra88 @SaketGokhale https://t.co/6zfr6IEbyX
I think it's high time we change the trending hashtag from #AgrimaJoshua to #ArrestShubhamMishra
Following the condemnation, Mishra took down his video and apologised for his abusive remarks. However, people were quick to point out how his apology was half-assed and that he had basically learnt nothing.
@SahilBulla He’s already started pissing in his pants post tweet from Anil Deshmukh 😁 @CPMumbaiPolice @MumbaiPolice @AnilDeshmukhNCP please make a proper example out of him so that people think before speaking!
It is not surprising to learn that Shubham's apology was half-hearted. Considering how deep-rooted the patriarchy and misogyny is, the idea of 'teaching a woman a lesson' by using rape as a power tool, isn't seen as something out of the ordinary by many.
After his clip went viral he gave a response saying, "All this rape threats and everything, this is my andaaz. This is how I do things." Basically, he doesn't regret anything. https://t.co/nuS9XzFXLW
On the 12th of July, Shubham was detained by the Vadodara City Police and legal action was initiated against him.
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. We have detained him and initiated legal process for registration of FIR against him under relevent section of IPC and IT act.
The cybercrime cell registered an FIR against #ShubhamMishra for abusing #AgrimaJoshua and arrested him on Sunday night https://t.co/FJ4vUQaTf5
While his arrest was warranted, it is imperative to note that Shubham Mishra wasn’t the only miscreant. A multitude of men posted similar disturbing videos wherein they slut-shamed Agrima and spouted graphic rape threats. And there will be many more who will undoubtedly go scot-free. Trigger Warning:
@fayedsouza @MumbaiPolice Dear @MumbaiPolice, You might want to look at this boy as well. (TRIGGER WARNING: Abusive Language, graphic rape threats) https://t.co/G3j4fSGiIX
However, the biggest takeaway from this incident is that nobody is supposed to threaten a person with rape, no matter what they say - even if they're hurting your religious, cultural, or political sentiments. Being offended does not give one the licence to terrorise someone with dire consequences, especially physical assault.
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was known for being respectful, especially of women. These kids are annoying relentless harassers who have strength in numbers. You're not a shivbhakt, you're a locust. You scare us coz we've got valuable things to lose - but you'll still be a locust.
chhatrapati shivaji maharaj must be very proud of men in this country who are protecting his honour by sending rape threats to a comedian
You are NOT allowed to rape and threaten to rape us. 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”.
chhatrapati shivaji maharaj's followers giving r*pe threats to a woman is so ironic coz if you're his real follower you'd know he was a dependable supporter of women and their honour. he opposed all kinds of violence, harassment and dishonour against women.
The point isn't that what Agrima Joshua said wasn't offensive, the point is that even if it was that still does not give anybody the right to threaten, abuse or harass her. Or any artist, anywhere.
Things you can do if you don't like someone's work: - Stop watching it. - Unfollow them on all platforms. - Leave valid feedback/criticism if any. - Understand that just because you didn't like it doesn't mean others also won't. - Watch something else. - Mind your own business.
What happened with Agrima is terrifying. I hope she's safe, I hope this dies down and I can't believe this is literally the only respite I can hope for because everything else is pointless. Rape threats are so fucking normalised now, we don't even have the energy to get angry.
It's sad that it's 2020 and we still have to talk about this when it should be a known fact. It should be obvious.
no matter what your ideologies are, no one deserves rape or death threats the fact that this asshole had the AUDACITY to say all that bullshit and release a video & THEN go on to JUSTIFY it, tells clearly about the deep rooted patriarchy in our society #ArrestBadassShubhamMishra
I can give political opinions without the fear of getting rape threats. I am a man.
right wing or left wing NOBODY deserves to receive rape threats :)
While throwing light upon the normalisation of rape culture, this instance also tells us a lot about how we're responsible for putting certain YouTube influencers, who basically do the same thing, on a pedestal. These YouTubers have a major role to play when it comes to inspiring individuals like Shubham Mishra.
All the boys giving us rape threats record the video sitting in a car kyunki ghar pe record kiya toh maap baap ko pata chal jaaega ki ghar pe beta nahi galti hua hai.
Only if people didn't hail Hindustani Bhau and Carry Minati for their offensive, cheap, shit words and abuses and made them overnight stars, rather held them accountable for what they said, this man wouldn't have dared to say the shit he said in that video.
Had Shubham Mishra given rape threats it front of a gaming console instead of a car, he'd be a Youthoob influencer today, embaced by the comedy community.
The guy abusing/threatening Joshua thinks he is just making a "content". He already has 34K followers on Insta. He is doing this for more followers. And this is because of likes of CarryMinati/HindustaniBhau. Nothing sells like abuses among ViRaL cOnTeNt mAkeRs.
All in all, this call for people to be "united in empathy" so as to undercut the negativity, is perhaps a good, if not the best solution to this problem:
Calling for help!