The Piano Man Jazz Club (TPMJC) had announced the performance by a band called Bhangijumping for Monday, 9 pm
A popular restaurant in South Delhi found itself in the thick of controversy after an event promoted by them got them brickbats and criticism for being "casteist". The management, however, cancelled the musical performance which was scheduled for Monday night, and offered an apology for 'hurting people'.
The Piano Man Jazz Club (TPMJC) had announced the performance by a band called Bhangijumping for Monday, 9 pm. Soon after the post was put up on its official Facebook page, it brought the establishment in the direct line of fire of FB users who castigated it for using a 'racial slur' in the name.
Claiming that Bhangijumping has clear reference to people belonging to one caste, many of them termed the band's name as "offensive, demeaning and hurting." In the comments that followed the post, many accused the organisers for being insensitive towards the feelings of people belonging to that caste and being openly racist.
One comment read, "This is a casteist place, which perpetuates caste violence and suffers from a Savarna superiority complex. This place needs to be booked under SC ST atrocities Act ASAP." Another comment ranted that the place was "dehumanising" and made her "cringe," while a few others even demanded that the outlet should be boycotted altogether for the alleged insensitivity shown towards people belonging to that particular caste.
Meanwhile, the owner of TPMJC, Arjun Sagar Gupta, told DNA that he was not aware of that the name of the band had any caste reference to it. He claimed that he came to know only late last evening that the name was inappropriate after a friend texted him. Gupta added that they decided to cancel the performance because they did not intend to hurt anyone's feelings.
"I think I failed to understand the extent of how deeply this has affected some people," he said adding that the place was never elitist or casteist, and was sorry for causing pain.
The FB post publicising the event was removed by TPMJC soon after the controversy broke out. The Twitter handle of Bhangijumping and its Instagram account too was found to be deactivated later.
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