Stand-up comedian Rohan Joshi clarifies insensitive comment on Raju Srivastava after facing backlash

Comedian Raju Srivastava passed away on Wednesday morning. Fans and celebrities took to social media to mourn his loss, but stand-up comedian Rohan Joshi faced the wrath of netizens for his insensitive comment on his death. This was after Rohan commented on YouTuber Atul Khatri’s tribute to the late comedian.

Atul had shared a picture of Raju Srivastava on Instagram and mentioned that he was an inspiration to many.

‘Whenever you went on stage you lit it up. Your presence was such that when people just saw you there was an automatic smile on their faces. You will be truly missed. A big loss for the Indian Stand-up Comedy scene,’ he wrote.

Rohan commented on his post and called Raju’s demise ‘karma’.

‘We haven't lost a thing. Whether it was Karma whether it was the roast or any coming in the news. Raju Srivastava took every opportunity he ever got to shit on new comics, especially after the new wave of stand up started. He went on every fkall news channel every time he was invited to go shit on an upcoming art form and call it offensive just because he couldn't understand it and new stars were rising. He might have told a few good jokes but he understood nothing about the spirit of comedy or defending someone's right to say something even if you don't agree,’ he commented.

His comment rattled a section of social media users, who criticised him for calling Raju’s demise ‘karma.’ He later clarified that he took down the comment after facing backlash.

‘Yehi soch kar delete kiya kyuki after a minute of anger I realised today is not about my personal feelings. Sorry if it hurt and thanks for the perspective,’ he was quoted as saying by DNA.

Actor Sikandar Kher was also irked by his ‘good riddance’ comment. Taking to his Instagram Stories, he wrote, ‘There are always people that will not be the ideal way we think they should be. But, that's life and we as humans and humanity should deal with it for our own health and happiness (in my opinion). But, after reading this about someone who's passed away too soon, I am just sad to see that a young man who might be funny and witty, probably lacks a huge dose of humanity. #unfortunate #disheartening and very very very #uncool. Ps: took a lot for me to be this polite.’

Raju Srivastava died at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after more than 40 days of hospitalisation.