New Delhi: Comedian Raju Srivastava passed away on September 21 in New Delhi. Raju, who was admitted to AIIMS after he had a heart attack on August 10, was battling for his life for the past one and a half months and was on a ventilator. After his death, comedians, actors, politicians, and people from all walks of life mourned his demise. Comedian Atul Khatri too took to his Instagram to pay tribute to the late comedian.
He wrote, “RIP Rajubhai ❤️🙏 You were such an inspiration to so 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😢.”
In his post, stand-up comedian Rohan Joshi responded by writing an insensitive comment which read, “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. F^^k him and good ."
Soon after he was criticised and trolled by netizens for his comment. Rohan later deleted the comment after the backlash and apologised and wrote, “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 (sic).”
Actor Sikander Kher was also upset with Rohan Joshi’s now deleted comment, he reacted to it through his Instagram story and 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 is survived by his wife Shikha and children Antara and Aayushmaan Srivastava.