The protesters burnt effigies of star comedian Kapil Sharma and blocked the traffic on Majitha Road in Amritsar on Thursday.
AMRITSAR -Continuing with their agitation against television Kapil Sharma for allegedly projecting nurses in a “vulgar” manner on his comedy show, nursing staff from various medical colleges and hospitals staged a protest here on Thursday, and are mulling to approach deputy commissioner (DC) Varun Roojam to look into the matter.
The protesters burnt effigies of Sharma and blocked the traffic on Majitha road.
Jagdeep Kaur, a staff nurse, said, “We want the authorities concerned to ban Kapil Sharma’s show.”
Punjab Nursing Association general secretary Raj Bedi said, “If the show is not banned, we will file an FIR against Sharma. We will also approach the deputy commissioner and ask him to look into the matter.”
She said that the protest would continue till their demand was met, adding that the police had assured that required measures would be taken in the case.
The nurses and nursing students also raised slogans against Navjot Singh Sidhu — BJP’s former Lok Sabha MP from Amritsar who is now a Rajya Sabha member — for being part of the show.
Raj Bedi, state general secretary, Punjab Nursing Association, said, “How can Sidhu be a part of a show like this that demeans someone’s profession? He keeps laughing at jokes made about the medical profession, including those on doctors, even when his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu (Amritsar-East MLA) is a doctor!”
“We as a community expected that Sidhu would not support this nonsense and such vulgar jokes. Nurses have been objectified on the show since its beginning,” Bedi added.
Next, the nursing union is planning to file a defamation case against the comedian.
The nurses filed a complaint against Kapil Sharma to station house officer (SHO) Gagandeep Singh Pawar at the Majitha Road police station, and he assured them of due action.
Mandeep Kaur, a nursing student, said, “This is insulting; no nurse behaves like this in real life. We are part of a dignified profession.” Stating that the issue was to “protect the dignity of the noble profession”, Sunita Thakur, a nurse at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, said, “The kind of relationship that has been depicted between a doctor and a nurse on the show is derogatory. Our community is against the kind of uniform worn by the actor Rochelle Rao, who plays a nurse.”
Harjeet Nanda, another protesting nurse, said, “People don’t know the meaning of the word Nurse, which expands to Noble, Understanding, Responsible, Sympathetic, Efficient. We are not mere objects of desire.”
“Doing comedy is one thing but demeaning someone’s profession is quite another,” remarked Sukhwinder Sohi, who was also among the protesting nursing staff.
