Actor Swara says silence against hatred is complicity
Outspoken Bollywood actor says she loyes to take hateful trolls head on as it very important ‘to expose the hatred ang the low level oi humanity of so many trolls’ that are often paid for by vested interests
MUMBAI: Outspoken actress Swara Bhaskar, who has made a name for herself in Bollywood with strong roles in some offbeat films, says she loves to take hateful trolls head on as it very important “to expose the hatred and the low level of humanity of so many of these trolls” that are often paid for by vested interests.
In an interview, Swara said “the path to stand up for whatever is right will always be harder”, and she always kept reminding herself that “this is a good fight.”
“I do take on trolls head on,” she asserted courageously.
“Especially from the organised trolls of the Sangh Parivar and BJP itself, the kind of vicious trolling and frankly irrelevant, stupid hateful messages that have been coming. And then you actually ask yourself why Bollywood actors should put themselves out there and become targets of such hateful, horrible paid trolls.”
She defended Bollywood artistes for not often speaking up on issues, because no one wants to “become vulnerable to such crazy hounding in the kind of climate of India where it seems there is no accountability for any kind of a heinous crime.”
“If we don’t have respect for artistes then we don’t have respect for the freedom of expression. We don’t have respect for dissenting opinion,” said Swara, whose parents come from academic and services background.
When asked about the low profile response from Bollywood to the the Kathua outrage, the actress said “I think as far as this particular case is concerned, the whole outrage that has happened where everyone -- whether it’s the people from Bollywood, even citizens and common people and people who are not actors, the outrage is really genuine and widespread, as it should be because the crime is so horrifying and so heinous. It says something so scary about our society, especially as you know, what the attitude of the government is in both these cases (Kathua and Unnao).
“Very honestly, people say celebrities should speak up and voice their opinion when such incidents happen and someone said that they need to be responsible. But look at them when they speak! Look at this placard campaign we initiated,” added Swara.