A video of an Instagram influencer dancing at the gate of a temple has gone viral on social media, which attracted criticism from Hindu groups. The incident took place at the Janrai Toriya temple complex in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
The influencer, named Aarti Sahu, was seen dancing ‘provocatively’ to the tune of ‘Second hand jawani’ song at the entrance of the Janrai Toriya temple. Dressed in a red Kurti, the Instagrammer did not bother to take off her shoes while dancing at the temple gate. She then posted the video on her Instagram profile (@itsaartisahu), which has over 23 lakh followers. After the video went viral, Bajrang Dal and Hindu rights organisations took notice of the matter. They accused the influencer of hurting religious sentiments for fame and money.
While dubbing the dance video as ‘obscene’, Bajrang Dal member Saurabh Khare remarked, “Such girls are destroying our culture. Those who mock our culture in this manner has no right to be in our society. We will keep opposing people like Aarti.” The Bajrang Dal has demanded that the police register a First Information Report (FIR) in the case. A complaint was also filed with the DSP (Chhatrapur) Shashank Jain.
The police assured that appropriate action will be taken, following the investigation into the matter. In her defense, Aarti said that she was clothed in full dress and there was nothing vulgar in her dance. However, the Head priest (Mahant) of the temple, Bhagwandas, has demanded strong action against her. “Do not desecrate our temples, monasteries and ashrams by doing such acts,” he stated.
Mahant Bhagwandas was initially unaware of the viral dance video as he was at a different temple at the time of the incident. On learning about it, he stated that strong action must be taken against individuals who indulge in such activities.
Instagram influencer apologises for hurting religious/political sentiments
Live Hindustan reported that the girl had apologised for her actions while speaking to a news channel. She had also promised to not shoot such videos at a religious site. She also posted a video on Instagram seeking forgiveness, saying that she didn’t intend to hurt the sentiments of anyone.
In the Instagram story published on Saturday (September 25), Aarti Sahu said, “Hello everyone. I always get your support for the videos that I create. The intention of my videos is not to hurt anyone’s sentiments or cause damage. Please forgive me if any of my videos had hurt anyone’s religious or political sentiments.”
