Why I Don’t Want Your Comment Under This Post
As a person whose daily routine has a dedicated few hours for reading stuff on the internet, I have been following quite a few happenings closely – Burhan Wani’s killing, Raghuram Rajan’s exit, NaMo being NaMo (pretty quietly, all over the world), and of course, Salman Khan being the 50-year-old man-child that he is. Are you in a facepalm position over the comment on Bhai? Yes? Okay, let me come to the point.
You, fellow follower of pop culture, do you know Sona Mohapatra? Have you answered the previous question in the affirmative, I trust you not to? Correct me if I just made a wrong assumption, but in that case, who licensed you to threaten her of rape and of ignominy? Who allowed you to question her talent (which, by the way, is infinitely superior to that of the person you’re defending)?
Your tribe treated Soha Ali Khan, a Tagore and a Pataudi by upbringing and an alumnus of Oxford and LSE by education, to a similar barrage of insults when she called Raghuram Rajan’s exit unfortunate and the circumstances shameful.
Who are you, you privileged human being? Are you one protected by the anonymity the internet promises, backed by enough of a degree of formal education to cover up for your blissful ignorance?
Why does it matter so much to me, you ask? It matters to me because potentially, you could call me a publicity-seeking bitch, question my character and what not, all for asking you a simple question about why you do what you do.
Do you have issues understanding the concepts of feminism and free speech? Why I see you at the worst of your behaviour in the comments section of every article talking about independent women making choices. What causes you to say things like, “Feminism is destroying families. Women are becoming too ambitious, that’s how divorces are destroying our culture”?
One journalist as much as dared to honestly review Sultan – it was well-worded, rather it suited my tastes. What did you do, friend? You said, “You are jealous, bitch. Sultan’s opening collection is more than hundred times your life earnings.” And when you ran out of words, you liberally resorted to F-words.
You said “f*** you” to a journalist for reviewing a film. What does that say about you?
Every time a blog or a website publishes an article about PM Modi unless it’s along the lines of “Narendra Modi Is The Hero We Need”, you shower the comments section with, “Move to Pakistan” and oh, the new favourite, “anti-national”. These are the sober abuses. But these are abuses.
And guess what is common to the majority of above articles/opinions?
Their authors are women.
For the longest time, I would think you hold intolerance to a woman having her own voice – one that doesn’t quite align with yours.
But then, you didn’t leave even Dr Shashi Tharoor alone. He posted something about NaMo’s train journey in South Africa, and you asked him to show definitive proof that his wife was not murdered. (Disclaimer: My polite reference to Dr Tharoor does not imply that I support his party. Don’t even go there.)
I know that if this reaches your eye, you might feel offended. You have every right to. Comment what you may. We strive to preserve the freedom of speech.
But, do know that the politeness (or the lack of it) can be the difference between a voice coming up and not.
Disagree with me, bash this article thoroughly if you so wish, but as Sahil Rizwan of The Vigil Idiot said, in his Sultan review that too, give me your page view first.
PS: By now you must have made out that I’m no fan of Salman Bhai (uncle?) or the BJP/RSS, but dare you bash me for that.
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