"Making mistakes is human nature, but..." - DCCI reacts as Harbhajan Singh deletes controversial 'tauba-tauba' video

Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh issued an apology on social media after he, along with Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, faced criticism from India's Paralympic community for their bizarre dance, celebrating the India Champions’ World Championship of Legends 2024 (WCL 2024) triumph.

After the video went viral across social media platforms, Arman Ali, the Executive Director of the National Council for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), lodged a police complaint against India’s 2011 World Cup heroes for “insulting and making fun of more than 10 crore disabled people."

Harbhajan Singh issues apology over controversial dance video amid criticism

Apart from the NCPEDP, the Differently Abled Cricket Council of India (DACCI) also expressed their disappointment, leading Harbhajan to apologize the community and share the real story behind making the video.

Taking to social media platform X, the former Team India spinner said that they didn’t want to hurt anybody with their act, as it was just a reflection of how their bodies were in pain after playing continuous cricket for 15 days in the recent WCL 2024.

Harbhajan said that he and his teammates respect every individual and community, so he wants to stop all this by apologizing to one and all. Even Harbhajan deleted the controversial video from his social media handles after the backlash.

Harbhajan Singh said in a lengthy apology post on X: “We didn't want to hurt anyone's sentiments. We respect every individual and community, and this video was just to reflect on our bodies after playing continuous cricket for 15 days. SORE bodies.”

🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/mCMCquRbbZ

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) July 15, 2024

Differently Abled Cricket Council of India appreciates Harbhajan Singh for showing maturity after a complaint

Meanwhile, Ravi Chauhan, the General Secretary of the Differently Abled Cricket Council of India, revealed that he spoke to Harbhajan Singh regarding the controversial video. Chauhan told him that the differently abled community was really hurt and disappointed by the video, especially given Harbhajan and other players’ stature and his past support for differently abled sports.

However, Chauhan appreciated Harbhajan for honoring his promise by deleting the video and apologizing to the community. He emphasized that everyone makes mistakes, but it's crucial to accept and rectify them promptly, and the former cricketer showed maturity in the incident.

Ravi Chauhan told the Times of India: “I spoke to Harbhajan yesterday and expressed that the entire differently-abled community was feeling hurt and disappointment with his video, especially as he has been a supporter of differently-abled sports in the past, and I told him that it wasn't expected from someone of his stature.

He immediately apologized and promised me that he and the others would delete this video, and I'm glad that he kept his promise. I'm sure that our cricket superstars didn't intend to hurt anybody's sentiments. Making mistakes is human nature, but the ability to accept a mistake in time and correct it is what differentiates men from boys.”