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Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah recently found himself at the centre of a controversy after making statements in which he claimed Sindhi is no longer spoken in Pakistan. These remarks, made during promotions for his web series Taj: Divided By Blood, triggered a wave of criticism and strong backlash from Pakistanis. Shah has now taken to his official Facebook page to issue a sincere and official apology, acknowledging his mistake and expressing regret for any offence caused.

Shah posted the apology on his Facebook page and addressed it to the entire Sindhi-speaking population of Pakistan. In his statement, he admitted his error and extended his heartfelt apologies for deeply offending the community with his mistaken opinion but couldn’t help but take a jab at his naysayers.

“Okay, okay. I apologise to the entire Sindhi-speaking population of Pakistan who I seem to have deeply offended by my mistaken opinion. I admit I was ill-informed but is it necessary to crucify me for that? ‘Let him who is free from…’ as Jesus said,” he wrote.

“Actually, I’m quite enjoying being called ‘ignorant’ and ‘pretend intellectual’ after many years of being mistaken for an intelligent person. It’s quite a change!”

The actor earlier responded to the controversy, saying, “Two completely unnecessary controversies seem to have erupted over things, I’ve said recently. One regarding my mis-statement about the Sindhi language in Pakistan. I was in error there.

“The second over what I’m supposed to have said about the relationship between Marathi and Farsi. My exact words were ‘many Marathi words are of Farsi origin.’ My intention was not to run down the Marathi language but to talk of how diversity enriches all cultures Urdu itself is a mix of Hindi Farsi Turkish and Arabic. English has borrowed words from all European languages not to mention Hindustani and I suppose that is true of every language spoken on earth.”

Even though he admitted he was wrong, his first statement didn’t contain an apology, which irked people. Sindhi actors Mansha Pasha, Yasir Nawaz and Danish Nawaz even made a video mocking the actor.

While jokes were made, the incident highlights the importance of cultural sensitivity and accurate information, especially when discussing topics that can potentially offend or marginalise communities. That being said, even public figures can make mistakes and it’s about owning up and acknowledging those mistakes.