4 days ago
Samay Raina, Sharon Verma Face Backlash Over Bihar, Kashmir Jokes
Samay Raina and Sharon Verma joked about where they come from on a comedy show.
Sharon is from Bihar, and Samay is a Kashmiri Pandit.
Samay made jokes about Bihar, its language and people moving to Mumbai for jobs.
Sharon replied with a joke about Kashmir and the words “getting stoned.”
She also said she had left her state by choice.
Some viewers thought this referred to the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits during unrest in the early 1990s.
They said the jokes made serious suffering seem unimportant.
Several politicians criticized the comedians.
Other people said comedians should be spoken to calmly or that the exchange was ordinary roast humor if it did not cause real harm.
A viral Season 2 clip from India's Got Latent shows Samay Raina and Sharon Verma trading jokes about their regional backgrounds.
Raina joked about Verma's Bihar roots, language and move to Mumbai for work.
Verma responded with jokes about Raina's Kashmiri identity, “getting stoned” and leaving her state by choice.
Critics said the exchange relied on regional stereotypes and appeared to trivialize Kashmiri Pandit displacement and other painful experiences.
Several political leaders condemned the remarks, while Sanjay Singh and some social media users supported dialogue or defended the exchange as roast-style humor.
- Who
- Comedians Samay Raina and Sharon Verma; other episode participants included Orry, Archana Puran Singh and Nishant Suri. Political reactions came from Ram Kadam, Mithilesh Tiwari, Harish Rawat, Anand Dubey, R.S. Pathania and Sanjay Singh, among others.
- What
- A viral exchange involving jokes about Bihar, Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandit displacement triggered online backlash and political criticism.
- Where
- On Season 2 of India's Got Latent; the recording location was not specified.
- When
- The reports were published or updated on August 30, 2026; the episode date was not specified.
- Why
- Critics said the jokes used regional stereotypes and appeared to make light of Kashmir-related unrest, displacement and painful community experiences.
Critics and Condemnation
Dialogue and Comedic Context
Regional humor
Critics and Condemnation
Social media users and political leaders said the jokes about Bihar, Kashmir and communities were stereotypical, derogatory or inconsistent with social and constitutional values.
Dialogue and Comedic Context
Some users defended the exchange as roast-style dark humor in which both comedians joked about each other's backgrounds and gave as good as they got.
Kashmiri Pandit reference
Critics and Condemnation
Critics said the “getting stoned” joke and the comment about leaving a state by choice appeared to trivialize unrest, displacement and the suffering of families affected by the Kashmiri Pandit exodus.
Dialogue and Comedic Context
Supporters of a measured response viewed the exchange as an attempt at comedy rather than proof of an intent to diminish those experiences; the reports do not quote a direct defense from Raina or Verma.
Appropriate response
Critics and Condemnation
BJP, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) figures called for greater care and condemned remarks they considered insulting to citizens and communities.
Dialogue and Comedic Context
AAP leader Sanjay Singh said comedians can make mistakes while trying to entertain and should be engaged in dialogue and guided instead of targeted. Manoj Bajpayee also argued that humor can be acceptable when it does not cause genuine harm.
Key facts
- Program
- India's Got Latent Season 2
- Main participants
- Samay Raina and Sharon Verma
- Other participants
- Orry, Archana Puran Singh and Nishant Suri
- Jokes referenced
- Bihar, migration to Mumbai for work, Kashmiri identity and “getting stoned”
- Historical interpretation
- Some viewers interpreted “I left my state by choice” as a reference to the Kashmiri Pandit exodus from the Valley during the early 1990s.
- Criticism
- Political leaders and social media users said the exchange was derogatory or trivialized regional trauma.
- Alternative responses
- Sanjay Singh called for dialogue rather than targeting comedians; Manoj Bajpayee said society should be able to laugh at itself when humor does not cause genuine harm.
Quotes
Mithilesh Tiwari
Bihar Education Minister and BJP leader
“Humour is a divine art form that uplifts people, gladdens the heart, and lightens the burden of worries. However, when you misuse it to portray a caste, community, or region in a derogatory or mocking manner, it diminishes the value of humour itself. Samay Raina needs to understand this.”
news18.com
“I think that if a comedian says something like this, their intention is to make people laugh. In that process, sometimes they make mistakes. But I think it is not right to turn it into an issue and target them. Instead, one should engage in dialogue with them and explain.”
news18.com
Samay Raina
Stand-up comedian and host of India’s Got Latent
“Sharon is so Bihari that she thinks 'Ebola' means someone said something.”
deccanchronicle.com
NDTV
A social media user
Online commenter reacting to the episode clip
“How are we normalising what happened in Kashmir?”
NDTV
Sources
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