YouTuber Paras Singh, who was granted bail by a court in Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar on June 11 , said he was touched by the love and care from the people of the State he had derided in one of his videos.
The social media influencer also told the local media that he was going back home enlightened about the State and the Northeast.
“I realised I made a great mistake and hurt the sentiments of the people of Arunachal Pradesh and the Northeast. I will try my best to win their hearts back,” he said after a two-week stay in custody in Itanagar.
He was arrested in May for racial slur against the State’s Congress MLA Ninong Ering and the people of the State. He had vented his anger on his YouTube channel after the MLA wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to ban a variant of PUBG called Battlegrounds Mobile India.
Mr. Singh said Arunachal Pradesh gave him the opportunity to learn a lot of good things about the State and its people.
“I know the people of Arunachal Pradesh were very angry with me because of the thoughtless statements I made in one of my videos and I am very embarrassed about it. This made me think that the people here would be very upset, but once they got to know me and my story, everyone treated me so well,” he said.
“Each individual that I met during the past two weeks during my stay in the jail here was very kind. Everyone taught me something new and something good about the State,” he added.
Mr. Singh goes by the name ‘Paras Official’ on his YouTube channel that focuses on mobile phone and video games.
He told interrogators of Arunachal Pradesh’s Special Investigation Team that he made the controversial video to gain widespread attention and views for maximising his income.
He said he had very little knowledge about Arunachal Pradesh, its people and the State’s size prior to his outburst on YouTube.
“I thought Arunachal was a small State after looking at the map but now I realise that it takes anywhere between one or more days to travel from one district to the other. While I was in jail, I was given books through which I came to know that the locals here speak 24-26 different languages and people from all across the country live and work here, including those from Punjab,” he said.
Mr. Singh said he also relished the State’s cuisines. “I ate bamboo shoots for the first time in my life and some other local dishes which were all very tasty,” he said.
He had a video interaction with Mr. Ering too. “He said I am like his grandson and that he forgave me for my mistake. This has had a big impact on me,” Mr. Singh, expected to reach home in Ludhiana soon, said.
