Actor Babil Khan, the son of the late Irrfan Khan, has joined the chorus of celebrities criticising Indian model and actor Poonam Pandey for her recent controversial stunt involving a fake death announcement. The official Instagram handle of Pandey posted a statement on Friday claiming that the actor had succumbed to cervical cancer. 

However, Pandey later took to the platform on Saturday, sharing a video to clarify that she is alive and that the intention behind the stunt was to raise awareness about cervical cancer. Babil, who tragically lost his father to a rare form of cancer in 2020, expressed his strong disapproval of Pandey’s publicity stunt through a note on his Instagram Stories. 

He vented his frustration over the misuse of a serious health issue for sensationalism. “I don’t know what the f**k that was about Poonam Pandey’s demise, but it just feels wrong. I’m trying not to care but it is making me feel really angry,” the actor penned. 

“Awareness can be spread, faking statements of death should not be something that we rely upon to do so as individuals in a collective society,” wrote Babil in his Instagram post.

The actor emphasised that genuine cancer awareness should be promoted without resorting to misleading and insensitive tactics. Given his personal experience with his father’s battle with neuroendocrine tumor (NED), a rare form of cancer, Babil urged people not to trivialise the severity of cancer-related issues.

“Bro long story short, this is the worst way to raise awareness about cancer, and my intuition roars, sensing malice. Please don’t fuck with cancer awareness,” he added. Irrfan’s demise in 2020 was a significant loss to the film industry, and Babil’s strong stance against exploiting health issues for publicity resonates with the larger sentiment of promoting responsible awareness campaigns.

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