Bollywood actor Dia Mirza made headlines back in June after she faced backlash for sharing an incident involving her 5-year-old son. She recalled an incident wherein her son, Avyaan Azaad Rekhi, reportedly schooled an adult delivery worker for using a plastic bag. The actress has now reacted to the backlash, clarifying that her son did not disrespect the vendor.
Dia Mirza defends her son amid backlash
During an interview with Zoom, Dia shared that her son had simply expressed something that “people in their entire life are unable to”. She further defended him against trolls who called her son’s behaviour privileged and elitist.
She shared, “Now, if a child is learning to say, ‘We do not use this’ – of course, everybody made it about the nariyal wala, which it was not. Firstly, it was not during the peak of summer. So, those who are worried about the coconut vendor coming in the heat and supplying this coconut water to this household in a plastic bag was his livelihood. It was all about the optics that were created around the story, which were about how it was elitist and it was disrespectful to the coconut vendor. That was not the approach of the story, nor was it the reality.”
The Operation Safed Sagar actress further added that her son did not disrespect the delivery worker, saying, “Everybody who knows me knows how I treat people. So, I don’t have to justify how I treat human beings. The child saw a coconut in a plastic bag. The child recognised that it was something we do not – if we don’t propagate it. The child had the agency and the awareness to say, ‘Please yeh wapas le jao hamare ghar mein. It’s not allowed.’ There is no disrespect here either.”
Dia Mirza’s 5-year-old son faces backlash
Earlier, during a podcast with Soha Ali Khan, Dia Mirza recalled how her son Avyaan refused to receive coconut water in a plastic bag. He even asked the delivery worker to take the plastic bag and straw back.
Soha further praised Avyaan’s conviction, saying, “Imagine standing up to somebody who is an adult and having that conviction.” The incident had sparked flak online, with some social media users questioning Dia over raising her son with a sense of entitlement. Some even called Avyaan’s interaction with the delivery worker privileged and elitist.