Siwet Tomar says he didn't hit Shehzad Poonawalla, claims he was ‘provoked’ for 15-20 mins: ‘I only held his collar’

Siwet explained his conflict with Shehzad, claiming that provocation over religion led to a physical altercation on Rise & Fall season 2.

Rise & Fall season 2 kicked off with a bang on September 26, but the drama escalated quickly. The third episode saw a heated clash between Shehzad Poonawalla and reality show star Siwet Tomar, which soon turned physical. Siwet attacked Shehzad, leaving his clothes torn, and was immediately evicted from the show. Now, Siwet has broken his silence on the incident, offering his side of the story and revealing what he claims happened in the lead-up to the fight.

Siwet Tomar says he didn't hit Shehzad Poonawalla

Siwet Tomar breaks silence on fight with Shehzad Poonawalla.

On Tuesday, Siwet took to Instagram and shared a video message clarifying that he didn't hit Shehzad and just held him by his collar. Siwet claimed that his altercation with Shehzad Poonawalla on Rise & Fall season 2 followed hours of provocation over religion. He alleged that Shehzad repeatedly made comments about his religion and caste. Siwet recalled one particular incident, saying, "Agar main ek show mein gaya hoon aur ek aadmi mujhe subah se leke shaam tak sirf ek hi cheez par baat karta hai, jismein dharam hai, jaati hai (If I have gone on a show and one person keeps talking to me about the same thing from morning till evening — about religion and caste)."

In his video, Siwet further claimed that Swara had apologised to him over her remarks about Jauhar, but the apology was edited out of the episode because the topic could not be discussed on the show. He said he had been hearing the same thing for four days and questioned how he could trust someone who repeatedly invoked religion but, according to him, behaved differently in private.

"I had been hearing the same thing for four days. But how can I trust someone who chants Hanuman ji’s name all day, yet I see mutton on his plate four times a day? Shehzad wears a Rudraksha mala, but he eats non-vegetarian food four times a day. Even Tejpratap called him out on this," he said.

However, Siwet said he still honoured his commitment to eliminate Swara from the Ultimate Rulers race, as he had given his word. He said he was the first person to name her but could not reveal his personal reasons on the show because they could not be aired.

According to Siwet, he later clarified the Jauhar remark with Swara. He claimed that she told him she respected Rajput women and ranis, and that her comment was directed at filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Siwet said Swara had intended to criticise the director for not portraying the Jauhar scene appropriately or showing the pain of Rajput women. He further claimed that she apologised to him four times, but none of those conversations were included in the final edit.

Siwet on altercation with Shehzad Poonawalla

Siwet also addressed allegations that he attacked Shehzad from behind. He claimed that the footage showed him walking towards Shehzad, who then turned around, and said another cut showed him holding Shehzad by the collar. He said, "If I wanted to hit him, I had 5-6 seconds when no one was around us. Main dhun deta vahin pe. Sirf collar pakda tha aur samjha raha tha ki tum yeh jo dharm ke naam pe chalte ho naa baar baar (I would have beaten him up right there. I had only grabbed him by the collar and was trying to explain to him that you keep using religion again and again)." Siwet further claimed that Shehzad was the one who brought religion into conversations inside the house after questioning Karan Patel over his social media post saying, "Hindu and Muslim are brothers."

Siwet added, "And the people who are supporting Shehzad, I want to know that if he couldn't be loyal to the religion he was born in, will he ever be loyal to you all? I took Shehzad's name kyunki woh mujhe dogla lagta hai. Mujhe voh aadmi hi pasand nahi jo mera religion isliye istemaal kare taaki voh bahar dange kara sake. He kept on provoking me by talking about my religion and cast. But he was saying all this while we were sitting on the table as well, but I didn't go and hit him then, so you think what he might have said that I went to hit him. We were told not to talk about religion. It was 15-20 mins of provocation. You need to understand what all he would have said that I got so provoked. It's just that when I held his collar and he slipped down, his kurta was torn."

Siwet said he regretted having to leave the show because of the altercation with Shehzad, particularly as he had wanted to win the reality show. He also claimed that Shehzad's supporters had been abusing his mother. The Roadies star said he did not intend to hit Shehzad and was instead trying to explain that using religion as propaganda would not help him make his point. He added that "humanity should be over religion".

"I won't say violence was right; I lost my temper. But if someone would say such things to you for 25-30 mins, then what will you do?" he said. Siwet also criticised reality shows for bringing contestants such as Shehzad onto the platform and then editing out discussions about religion. He claimed that Rise & Fall season 2 had a rule prohibiting political and religious discussions, and argued that Shehzad should therefore also have been evicted from the show.