Actor Anupam Kher on Tuesday had a piece of advice for Gautam Gambhir, the newly-elected Lok Sabha lawmaker from East Delhi: refrain from falling into the "trap of getting popular with a section of media". The comments from Mr Kher came after the former cricketer criticised the alleged assault on a Muslim man in Gurgaon.
Mr Kher took to Twitter to congratulate Mr Gambhir on his recent election victory and also advised the former cricketer.
"Dear @GautamGambhir !! Congratulations on your win. As a passionate Indian it made me very happy. Not that you have asked for my advise but still- Don't get into a trap of getting popular with a section of media. It is your work that will speak. Not necessarily your statements," he tweeted.
Dear @GautamGambhir !! Congratulations on your win. As a passionate Indian it made me very happy. Not that you have asked for my advise but still- Don’t get into a trap of getting popular with a section of media. It is your work that will speak. Not necessarily your statements.🙏
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) May 28, 2019
The 25-year-old Muslim man was allegedly slapped by a group of people in Gurgaon on May 25. He was also reportedly asked to remove his skull cap and forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram".
Mr Gambhir had termed the incident as "deplorable" and asked the authorities to take "exemplary" action in the matter.
"In Gurugram Muslim man told to remove skullcap, chant Jai Shri Ram. It is deplorable. Exemplary action needed by Gurugram authorities. We are a secular nation where @Javedakhtarjadu writes ''O palan-hare, nirgun aur nyare & @RakeyshOmMehra gave us d song ''Arziyan'' in Delhi 6 (sic)," Mr Gambhir had said in a tweet on Monday.
“In Gurugram Muslim man told to remove skullcap,chant Jai Shri Ram”.
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) May 27, 2019
It is deplorable. Exemplary action needed by Gurugram authorities. We are a secular nation where @Javedakhtarjadu writes “ओ पालन हारे, निर्गुण और न्यारे” & @RakeyshOmMehra gave us d song “अर्ज़ियाँ” in Delhi 6.
Mr Gambhir also said his secularism emanated from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's philosophy of ''Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'' and added that any oppression based on caste or religion is deplorable.
"My thoughts on secularism emanate from honourable PM Mr Modi's mantra "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas".. I am not limiting myself to Gurugram incident alone, any oppression based on caste/religion is deplorable. Tolerance & inclusive growth is what the idea of India is based on," he said in another tweet.
His comments, however, did not go down well with a section of his party men in Delhi who said the cricketer-turned-politician's remarks might be used against the BJP by the opposition parties.
Mr Gambhir, who joined the BJP before the recent Lok Sabha polls, contested from East Delhi seat and defeated Congress's Arvinder Singh Lovely by 3.91 lakh votes.