Sharad Pawar slapping incident
Indian Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution, Sharad Pawar was slapped by a youth named Harvinder Singh at a the New Delhi Municipal Corporation centre while leaving the premises after attending a literary function on 24 November 2011.[1] The attacker, who previously is said to have assaulted former telecom minister Sukh Ram, was later arrested. The Times of India reported that Harvinder has been attacked multiple times, since being released from police custodym once on January 15 and then again on February 25.[2]
Motivation
Harvinder Singh is an auto-rickshaw driver and has no political affiliations. He said after slapping Pawar in Hindi that 'He is a thief, they are all thieves'. He said that he slapped Pawar because of corruption and price-rise.[3] Harvinder Singh's sister reportedly claimed that Singh was suffering from a mental illness. [4]
Reactions
All leading political parties in India condemned the attack.[5] Some politicians argued that violence should not be used as a means of raising concern.[6][7]
The youth who slapped Pawar was highly praised on YouTube[8] by common people, however politicians argued that violence should not be used as a means of raising concern.[6][9] There were also several fan pages created on Facebook.[10][11] There were parallels drawn with revolutionary and martyr Bhagat Singh,[12] and pages advocating the shaming of more corrupt politicians.[13]
India Today reported that the opinion of the general public was in favour of further shaming of corrupt people holding public office.[14] There was also widespread criticism of the NCP's call for a bandh.[15][16] An opinion poll conducted by DNA India showed that people praised the [17] attack on Sharad Pawar and public expressed happiness one of them did this to corrupt politicians like Pawar.
Kolaveri parody
A parody of Why This Kolaveri Di, a track from a Tamil movie '3' which is honored by YouTube with a Gold Award for getting the most number of hits,[18] based on the Sharad Pawar slapping incident, known as "Chamaat Song"[19] (Slap Song) was posted on YouTube . This track is listed in "Top 10 Versions of 'Kolaveri Di' Song" [20] by the Times of India. The track received 964,729 hits by evening of 2 December 2011, within a week of its release on 25 November.[21]
References
- ^ "India agriculture minister Sharad Pawar slapped". BBC News. 2011-11-24.
- ^ who slapped Pawar under attack : Times of India. timesofindia.indiatimes.com (2012-02-29). Retrieved on 2012-03-01.
- ^ http://goindocal.com/india-%25BB-politics-frustrated-common-man-slaps-sharad-pawar--go-3096.htm
- ^ http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-25/delhi/30440651_1_neighbours-mental-illness-bhagat-singh
- ^ Sharad Pawar slapped: Parties unanimously condemn attack – Times Of India. Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com (2011-11-24). Retrieved on 2011-12-06.
- ^ a b Sharad Pawar slapped by youth over corruption and price rise – The Times of India. Timesofindia.indiatimes.com (1970-01-01). Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
- ^ "Sharad Pawar assaulted by youth outside NDMC auditorium". Economic Times. 2011-11-24. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
{{cite news}}:|first=missing|last=(help) - ^ ajaydeore1 (Nov 24, 2011). "Delhi Sharad Pawar Slapped – Sharad Pawar Slapped by Youth in Delhi". YouTube. Retrieved Nov 26, 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Sharad Pawar assaulted by youth outside NDMC auditorium". Economic Times. 2011-11-24. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
{{cite news}}:|first=missing|last=(help) - ^ Harvinder Singh 'The Slap King'. Facebook. Retrieved on 2011-12-04.
- ^ Harvinder Singh. Facebook. Retrieved on 2011-12-04.
- ^ Harvinder Singh The Common Man's Hero. Facebook. Retrieved on 2011-12-04.
- ^ All corrupt politicians should be slapped. Facebook. Retrieved on 2011-12-04.
- ^ Common man backs Harvinder for slapping Pawar, wants it repeated : North News – India Today. Indiatoday.intoday.in (2011-11-24). Retrieved on 2011-12-04.
- ^ The common man strikes back. Deccan Chronicle (2011-11-27). Retrieved on 2011-12-04.
- ^ Why was NCP silent over Maval firing: Anna Hazare – Mumbai – DNA. Dnaindia.com (2011-11-26). Retrieved on 2011-12-04.
- ^ attack. Dnaindia.com (2011-11-26). Retrieved on 2011-12-04.
- ^ Sify News, Kolaveri bags YouTube Gold Award
- ^ Watch the track on YouTube
- ^ Times of India, Top 10 Versions of 'Kolaveri Di' Song
- ^ Times of India, 'Kolaveri Di' versus 'Sharad Pawar' slap song video