Indian-American influencer Aparna Singh faces backlash for calling Varanasi ‘scary’, apologises on TikTok

After facing massive backlash for calling Varanasi the “scariest city” she ever visited, Indian-American influencer Aparna Singh has apologised for her remarks. In a TikTok video Aparna said that she is extremely sorry if her statement came across as “disrespectful”.

“Like I said I would like to apologise because I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful. I was simply just saying my experience,” she said in the video.

The Atlanta-based influencer stated that apparently nobody cared about the “good videos”. She had shared videos while travelling to Jaipur and Mumbai. She was dissapointed how everyone latched onto the one negative statement she had. “Y’all don’t care about the good videos I post but as soon as I say the bad experience I had, it just blown up – TikTok, that’s how y’all are.”

According to a report by the New York Post, over 10,000 people called out Aparna in the comment section as soon as the video went out. One of comments read, “Next time do your research beforehand and be open to new experiences without so much judgment.”

Explaining to her why the river Ganges is so crowded, another user wrote, “Hindu devotees believe that the water of the Ganges is holy and washes away all their ‘papam’ or sins.” The user added that the city remains heavily crowded throughout the year as many people pay visit to spend their last years in the city as Hindu scriptures claim that anyone who breathes their last in Varanasi will achieve moksha from the circle of birth-death and reincarnation.

Aparna Singh was visiting India to meet manufacturers who work for her jewellery brand Indian Goddess Boutique, famous for nose rings.

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