The battle between Indian author Chetan Bhagat and actress Urfi Javed, now known as Uorfi, has intensified.
Hours after Urfi called him out for dragging her name at a literary festival after he declared that the India’s youth wasted their collective time looking at Urfi Javed’s skimpy sartorial choices on their phones, Chetan has responded to her savage tweets. Without naming her in his tweets, Bhagat was in defensive mode as he claimed that this was a “non-issue” and that he hadn’t criticsed anyone.
“Have never spoken to/chatted with/met/ known someone where it’s being spread that I have done so. It’s fake. A lie ... Also a Non-issue. Haven’t criticised anyone. And I also think there’s nothing wrong in telling people to stop wasting time on Instagram and focus on fitness and career,” he wrote.
Trouble brewed when Bhagat dragged her name into a conversation at a literary event about how India’s youth could benefit from being less addicted to their phones and pontificating less about what reality show star Urfi was wearing. He labelled the activity a distraction.
“Ek India ka jawan wo hai jo Kargil pe baith ke desh ki raksha kar raha hai. Ek humara youth hai jo bistaron mein ghus ke Urfi Javed ki photos dekh rha hai [There’s one India where our youth is in Kargil protecting our country and on the other there’s another section of youth who are lying in bed checking out Urfi Javed’s pictures],” he said at that literary event.
But Javed, who is notorious for her risque wardrobe choices, isn’t impressed as she promptly called him out with a series of savage responses.
On Sunday, she slammed him for dragging her name into a debate that had nothing to do with her.
“I don’t understand one thing, what was the need to mention my name at a literature festival, I’m not an author, mera koi lena dena nahi [I have nothing to do with the literary fest]. How can you accuse the youth of being distracted by me, when you were like this uncle who sent inappropriate messages to women half your age. You were married back then and have two sons, who was distracting you then?” said Javed in a video on Twitter and Instagram.
She also posted a string of responses to his remarks on Instagram where she called him out for promoting “rape culture. Javed, who has over 3.9 million followers on Instagram alone, schooled him with the sternest of words.
“Blaming a women’s clothes for the behaviour of men is so ‘80s mr @Chetanbhagat. Who was distracting you when you msged girls half your age? Always blame the opposite gender, never accept your shortcomings or faults! People like you are misguiding the youth, not me. Encouraging the men to put the blame on the women or her clothing when they are at fault,” said Javed.
She also posted images of the leaked WhatsApp messages from 2019 when Bhagat seemingly sent suggestive messages to young women and was one of the tainted names attached to India’s growing #MeToo movement, where sexual predators are outed.
A large section of social media users has been divided when it came to taking sides. While several Twitter users expressed their appreciation about Bhagat being called out for his prejudices, another section felt the issue was being blown out of proportion.
