NCW summons Jawed Habib on Jan 11; calls viral spitting video 'unfortunate and shameful'

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has summoned celebrity hairstylist Jawed Habib for humiliating a woman during a training seminar in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar. According to a report by the news agency, ANI, NCW Chief, Rekha Sharma has stated that she wants to hear from him as to 'why did he do this.' She added that what the hairstylist said in response to the incident 'doesn't seem like an apology.' 

Sharma said, "I saw his apology on social media. Registering a case is not just enough. They (UP Police) should take an action. I have already summoned him. This is unfortunate and shameful."

This comes in the backdrop of the recent viral video that shows the popular hairstylist spitting on a woman's hair during the seminar and further making fun of her in front of the audience to which people were seen laughing and cheering. Going a step further, he was also seen suggesting that hairstylists can use saliva in case they don't have water in their salon. However, this did not go well with the netizens and he has been receiving heavy backlash ever since the video surfaced on the internet. 

The woman from the incident identified as Pooja Gupta who came to participate in the seminar has lodged an official complaint with the Muzaffarnagar police against Habib for being subjected to the humiliating incident and for allegedly mocking her for asking questions during the session. 

Pooja Gupta said, "He made fun of me. He told that there are guts in my spit. People around me were clapping. We went there to learn but came out with such an experience. He insulted me and apologize to me in front of everyone."

Arpit Vijayvargiya, SP City, Muzaffarnagar said, "Yesterday a video went viral on social media. A person was spitting on a woman's hair. The investigation is going on." Akash Vijayvargiya, who is the son of Kailash Vijayvargiya and MLA from Indore has said that they have given 48 hours of ultimatum to the administration to shut down all Habib's centres in Indore, otherwise, there will be a huge protest. 

After facing huge backlash for spitting on the woman's head, Jawed Habib apologized for his actions. As per a report by ANI, in his apology statement through a video message, Habib said that he spotted just to make the seminar 'humourous'.

He said, "I just want to say one thing, these are professional workshops, as in they are attended by people from within our profession. When these sessions get very long, we have to make them humorous. What can I say? If some people are hurt, then I offer my sincere apologies. My aim is only to educate people and not hurt anyone's sentiments. If you're truly hurt, I apologise from the bottom of my heart." 

Image: Twitter/@pb3060/ANI