Back in July this year, Bollywood actor Disha Patani’s sister Retd. Major Khushboo Patani made headlines when she lashed out at Spiritual Leader Aniruddhacharya. In a social media post, Khushboo called out the Mathura-based religious speaker for making sexist remarks about girls who are above the age of 25 and stay in live-in relationships. However, netizens wrongly assumed that her post was targeting another spiritual figure, Premanand Ji Maharaj. Later Khushboo clarified that her post was for Aniruddhacharya and the matter came to an end. But on September 12, the story took another turn when shots were fired at Disha and Khushboo’s house in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly.
Disha Patani and Khushboo Patani’s father, retired CO Jagdish Patani has now shared his statement in the matter. Talking to ANI, he explained, “…Khushboo was misrepresented. Her name was dragged into the matter of Premanand Ji Maharaj. We are Sanatanis, and we respect the sadhus and saints. If someone is misrepresenting her statement, it is a conspiracy to demean us…” In another interview quoted by NDTV, Jagdish shared, “I don’t think anyone has made any indecent remark. If Acharya ji made a statement on women, then my daughter also made one. Everyone has freedom of speech. But I don’t think anyone would make such a big fuss over it.”
Soon after the attack, the Rohit Godara and Goldy Brar gang claimed responsibility for the firing. In a Facebook post, they shared: “Next time, if she or anyone else shows any disrespect towards our religion, we will not let them leave alive from their house.” The post further read, “This message is not only for her but also for all the film artists and people associated with her. If anyone does any such disrespectful act related to our religion and saints in the future, then be ready to face the consequences. We are ready to go to any extent to protect our religion. For us, religion and the whole society are always one, and protecting them is our first duty.”
