每日英语新闻阅读(2022/01/12)

七彩极

An Indian actor has apologised to badminton star Saina Nehwal after his "sexist" tweet to her kicked up a social media storm.

Siddharth, who uses only one name, said he was trying to make a "rude joke" in response to a tweet by Nehwal.

But his "tone and words" couldn't be justified, he added in an apology tweeted on Tuesday night.

Siddharth's tweet had drawn outrage for an alleged sexual slur, a charge the actor denies.

The controversy began when Siddharth responded to a tweet by Nehwal on a security breach faced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week.

一名印度演员向羽毛球明星塞纳·内瓦尔（Saina Nehwal）道歉，此前他对她的“性别歧视”推文引发了社交媒体风暴。

只使用一个名字的悉达多说，他试图开一个“粗鲁的玩笑”来回应内瓦尔的一条推文。

但他在周二晚上发推文道歉时补充说，他的“语气和言辞”是没有道理的。

悉达多的推文因涉嫌性诽谤而引起愤怒，该演员否认了这一指控。

当 Siddharth 回应 Nehwal 关于总理纳伦德拉·莫迪 (Narendra Modi) 上周面临的安全漏洞的推文时，争议就开始了。

Modi trapped on flyover in security breach

Mr Modi was briefly trapped on a flyover in the north Indian state of Punjab on his way to a rally as a group of protesting farmers blocked the roads.

He later returned to Delhi without attending the programme.

The incident, described as a "serious lapse" by the home ministry, set off a political firestorm over who was responsible for the breach.

Members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the government of Punjab, ruled by the opposition Congress party, of deliberately trying to undermine the prime minister's security.

The controversy spilled over into social media as well, as supporters and critics of the BJP weighed in.

由于一群抗议的农民封锁了道路，莫迪先生在前往印度北部旁遮普邦的一个天桥上短暂受困。

他后来返回德里，但没有参加该活动。

这一事件被内政部描述为 "严重失误"，引发了一场关于谁该为这次失误负责的政治风暴。

执政的印度人民党成员指责由反对党国大党统治的旁遮普省政府故意破坏总理的安全。

这场争论也蔓延到了社交媒体上，印度人民党的支持者和批评者纷纷发表看法。

Nehwal, who joined the BJP in 2020, tweeted that she strongly condemned the "cowardly attack on PM Modi by anarchists", without naming anybody in particular.

Siddharth, a critic of Mr Modi, then quote-tweeted her comment with: "Subtle cock champion of the world... Thank God we have protectors of India."

The 6 January tweet began gaining attention over the weekend and soon drew outrage from all sides of the political spectrum for the alleged sexual wordplay on Nehwal's sport (badminton players use a shuttlecock).

Singer Chinmayi Sripada, who has often spoken about harassment faced by women, told Siddharth the comment was "crass".

"You just contributed to what a lot of us women are fighting against," she said.

India's National Commission for Women (NCW) even wrote to Twitter, asking them to block Siddharth's account.

It also wrote to police in Maharashtra state, where the actor is based, asking them to take action against him.

Siddharth then attempted to clarify his tweet, saying he was referring to the idiom "cock and bull".

"Reading otherwise is unfair and leading! Nothing disrespectful was intended, said or insinuated. Period," he tweeted on 10 January.

But not many bought that explanation.

Several TV channels invited political leaders to weigh in on the comments - some BJP leaders alleged that the actor had allowed his "hatred for the PM" to get the best of him.

Others continued tweeting about the controversy, using hashtags such as #NarendraModiPunjabvisit, ensuring it remained a Twitter trend.

Some right-wingers even tagged Bollywood actor Swara Bhasker - another critic of Mr Modi - asking her to weigh in on the comments.

Nehwal told news agency PTI that the comments were "not nice".

"He can express himself with better words but I guess it's Twitter and you remain noticed with such words and comments," she said.

Siddharth deleted both tweets - the one that kicked off the controversy and his explanation - later.

Late on Tuesday night, he tweeted a letter apologising to Nehwal.

2020 年加入印度人民党的内瓦尔在推特上表示，她强烈谴责“无政府主义者对莫迪总理的懦弱攻击”，但没有特别提及任何人。

莫迪先生的批评者悉达多随后在推特上引用了她的评论：“世界微妙的公鸡冠军......感谢上帝，我们有印度的保护者。”

1 月 6 日的推文在周末开始受到关注，并很快引起了政治派别对内瓦尔运动中所谓的性文字游戏（羽毛球运动员使用羽毛球）的愤怒。

经常谈论女性面临的骚扰的歌手 Chinmayi Sripada 告诉 Siddharth，评论是“粗鲁的”。

“你只是为我们许多女性所反对的事情做出了贡献，”她说。

印度全国妇女委员会（NCW）甚至写信给推特，要求他们封锁悉达多的账户。

它还写信给演员所在的马哈拉施特拉邦警方，要求他们对他采取行动。

悉达多随后试图澄清他的推文，称他指的是成语“公鸡和公牛”。

“以其他方式阅读是不公平和领先的！没有任何不尊重的意图、言论或暗示。期间，”他在 1 月 10 日发推文说。

但没有多少人相信这个解释。

几个电视频道邀请政治领导人发表评论 - 一些人民党领导人声称这位演员让他的“对总理的仇恨”得到了最好的发挥。

其他人继续发布有关争议的推文，使用#NarendraModiPunjabvisit 等标签，确保它仍然是推特的趋势。

一些右翼分子甚至给宝莱坞演员斯瓦拉·巴斯克贴上了标签——莫迪的另一位批评者——要求她对这些评论发表意见。

内瓦尔告诉新闻社 PTI，这些评论“不好”。

“他可以用更好的词来表达自己，但我猜这是推特，你仍然会因为这样的词和评论而受到关注，”她说。

悉达多后来删除了两条推文——引发争议的一条推文和他的解释。

周二深夜，他在推特上发了一封向内瓦尔道歉的信。

Siddharth has acted in several movies since his debut in a Tamil film almost two decades ago. While he is more popular in the southern film industry, his character in a 2006 Bollywood hit, Rang De Basanti, has made him recognisable to Hindi movie-watchers as well.

Nehwal, the first Indian badminton player to have won an Olympic medal, is one of the country's most celebrated sports stars. She is often credited with inspiring many young women to play badminton in a cricket-obsessed country.

西达斯自从二十年前在泰米尔电影中首次亮相以来，已经出演了多部电影。虽然他在南部电影界更受欢迎，但他在2006年宝莱坞热门电影《Rang De Basanti》中的角色使他也被印度电影观众所认识。

内瓦尔是第一个赢得奥运会奖牌的印度羽毛球运动员，是该国最著名的体育明星之一。她经常被认为激励了许多年轻女性在一个痴迷于板球的国家里打羽毛球。