Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Congres minister in Punjab and a self-proclaimed admirer of Pakistan’s Imran Khan, has been sacked from the popular comedy show on Sony TV, The Kapil Sharma Show.
According to a report in The Indian Express, Sidhu has been replaced with Archana Puran Singh after Sidhu’s comments over the Pulawama terrorist attack created a huge outrage on Social Media.
However, recent reports have quoted Archana saying that she has not been approached by the showrunners to permanently replace Sidhu and she would consider if she is approached in this regard. She had confirmed shooting 2 episodes on 9 and 13 February as a replacement for Kapil Sharma.
https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1096709681538625537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Sidhu, who was earlier under fire for visiting Pakistan to attend Imran khan’s oath-taking ceremony and hugging Pakistan’s army chief Qamar Bajwa there, had stated after the Pulwama attacks that terrorism has no religion and no nationality.
“This is a cowardly attack, people responsible for these attacks should be brought to justice. But, taking someone’s life is not a solution. Terrorism has no religion. Terrorism has no caste, party and Terrorism has no country,” he had stated.
Sidhu’s statement which betrayed his attempts to absolve his new found friend Imran Khan and Pakistan of any involvement in the attack. He had conveniently ignored that Jaish-e-Mohammad, the terrorist organisation responsible for the attack, is headed by Masood Azhar, a terrorist sheltered by Pakistan, also receives protection and help in Pakistan.
Sidhu’s reaction had created a massive social media outrage where people had requested Sony TV to drop Sidhu from their show.
https://twitter.com/SureshNakhua/status/1096692079332331521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Sidhu’s non-stop praising of Pakistan and his going out of the way to hug General Bajwa during his visit in November was even criticised by his own Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh.