The host of the show, Raghav Juyal is seen introducing a contestant from Guwahati while speaking gibberish that seems to mock Mandarin, in a clip of the show — Colors TV’s “Dance Deewane 3” — that has gone viral on social media.
TFM Desk
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday condemned a racist comment made by a host of a dance show on national television. A contestant from Guwahati on a dance reality show was subjected to racist rhetoric recently.
“This is shameful and totally unacceptable. Racism has no place in our country and we should all condemn it unequivocally,” the chief minister tweeted.
The host of the show, Raghav Juyal is seen introducing a contestant from Guwahati while speaking gibberish that seems to mock Mandarin, in a clip of the show — Colors TV’s “Dance Deewane 3” — that has gone viral on social media.
“People might not be able to understand her Chinese but they surely understand her dance,” he is heard saying in the 40-second clip.
“That’s because this kind of rubbishy passes for ‘humour’ now… don’t just audience’s delight.. criminal both,” renowned journalist Shekhar Gupta tweeted reacting to the issue.
While there has been no official statement from the channel as yet, Juyal (30) shared a video on Instagram in an attempt to “clarify the misunderstanding”.
The host said he wanted to share “the story” behind the small clip that is circulating on the Internet for the sake of his mental health and the people who know him.
“When the children come on the show, we ask them what their hobbies are. Gunjan said ‘I can talk in Chinese, I have this talent’. And we used to laugh at the things children say. When we asked her to speak Chinese, she started talking in gibberish. From there onwards, we would ask her to speak in ‘Chinese’ on every episode or ask her to speak in the language of another planet!” he said in the video.
According to Juyal, in the final episodes he introduced Gunjan in the same gibberish Chinese ahead of her acts on the show.
“You will not call me racist if you’d see the whole show,” he added.
He also maintained that he has a strong connection to the Northeast.
“I have my family in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. I have friends in Nagaland with whom I’ve grown up in boarding school. I’m someone who tries to show things politically correct and who takes a stand on injustice and racism. Instead, I often get trolled whenever I take a stand for a religion, caste, culture or creed,” he said.
Towards the end of the video, Juyal said he apologises to those whose sentiments were hurt.
“I’m so sorry if I’ve hurt your sentiments. It was neither my or Colors channel’s motives that something like this happens. But before making a clip viral and judging, I’d really want you to watch the whole show,” he added.
Racism towards the Northeastern people is not something new. While many who have settled in mainland India or studying or working there have faced such rhetoric, such instances come up in popular entertainment platforms and social media from time to time.