R Madhavan slammed online for making ‘Islamophobic’ joke on polygamy and Muslim men

An old video of actor R Madhavan recently resurfaced online, sparking an outrage on Twitter for its Islamophobic connotations, reported Hindustan Times.

The two-minute video shared by entrepreneur Harsh Goenka shows the 3 idiots actor telling a joke about polygamy and Muslim men to an audience. “He is a very profound doctor, a gastroenterologist and he got a call from his patient Mr Abdul and he said ‘Doctor, my wife is very ill. She is in big pain, she has a stomach ache and she cannot sit. Can I come over to your clinic?’" He begins. "The doctor said, ‘Yes, by all means’. And, like all patients today, Abdul had done his research he has gone to the internet and thought she may be infected with this one or that one'.”

R Madhavan further adds, “The doctor asked him not to worry. He checked her and then told him ‘Let me tell you, she has an infected appendix. So I have to do surgery and she will be fine. The surgery was done and she was fine. Abdul was a happy man."

He then detailed how one year later, Abdul called the doctor again and asked for another appendix removal surgery for his wife without any diagnosis. "Angered by his behaviour, the doctor says 'Every human being only has one appendix and I have already taken out the appendix. So please do not tell me how to do my job'," R Madhavan said.

Concluding his joke, he states, "Abdul patiently waited for the doctor to finish with his assumptions and then he shot back very meekly ‘Sir, I agree with you. Every human being can have only one appendix, but a man can have two wives, right?’”

Although in the video the whole audience erupts into laughter, that was not the case with Twitter users.

"Didn't expect this from him. But as people say - a great actor may not be a great human. I have many non-Muslim friends who remarried when their first marriage didn't work out. Some even remarried within a few months. So this second wife story is nothing but full of intolerance and hatred," wrote one fan.

Another said, "Actor Madhavan's obsession with Abdul is going nowhere!"

"What is the joke?" asked one tweep, while another remarked, "The name. Very subtle move."

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