Samay Raina faces backlash over Bihari-Kashmiri jokes on comedy show

Comedian Samay Raina is facing criticism from political leaders and social media users after a roast exchange with fellow comedian Sharon Verma on his show "India's Got Latent" touched on regional stereotypes and sensitive historical issues. The episode, released on August 28, 2026, featured a rapid-fire banter segment where Raina and Verma traded jokes about each other's backgrounds, with Raina targeting Verma's Bihari roots and Verma referencing Raina's Kashmiri identity. The controversy centers on specific remarks made during the exchange. Raina joked that Verma was "so Bihari that she thinks Ebola means someone said something," and later quipped she was a Bihari who had moved to Mumbai for work. Verma responded by saying Raina was "so Kashmiri, he loves getting stoned," a line interpreted by critics as a reference to stone-pelting during periods of unrest in Kashmir. She also delivered the retort, "At least I left my state by my choice," which many viewers understood as a reference to the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley in the early 1990s.