Tie Arundhati Roy to jeep, says Paresh Rawal, faces Twitter flak

Veteran actor and parliamentarian Paresh Rawal has attracted a lot of flak on Twitter for saying the army should "tie" author Arundhati Roy to an army jeep instead of tying a "stone pelter".

"Instead of tying a stone pelter on the army jeep tie Arundhati Roy," Rawal tweeted on Sunday night.

Twitter users termed Rawal's tweet as "offensive" and "incited violence".

Hitting out at the actor-BJP MP, Congress General Secretary Digivijaya Singh said: "Why not (tie) the person who stitched the PDP-BJP alliance?"

In a sarcasm-laced tweet, author Rana Ayyub said: "And you want to call him just a fringe? He's a high profile actor, an MP from Gujarat, and a Padma Shri. God bless his constituency."

"Btw (By the way) I don't agree with a lot that Arundhati says or does. But disagree more with violence. Your physical threats lose you all moral debates," wrote author and comedian Sorabh Pant.

Rawal is a Member of Parliament from Ahmedabad East constituency.

Another Twitter user, Ziya Us Salam said Rawal's comment about a woman were shameful.

"@SirPareshRawal Your acting was often commendable but your prejudiced mindset is condemnable. Telling the army to hide behind a brave woman is shameful," he tweeted.

IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, tweeted in support of Arundhati: "If Arundhati has to be tied on the army jeep, I would love to be tied in front of her, as I agree with most things she has said on Kashmir."

Arundhati Roy, an award-winning writer, has always been vocal about Kashmir issues.

Rawal's comment comes after an army officer tied a Kashmiri youth to the front of an army jeep as a human shield to avoid stone pelting during an army patrol in Budgam district on an election day in April. The incident received widespread condemnation.

--IANS

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