SWARA’S LONE BATTLE AGAINST FACELESS TROLLS
DAYS AFTER RAISING HER VOICE AGAINST THE KATHUA AND UNNAO RAPES, THE ACTRESS IS STILL FENDING OFF ABUSE FROM THOSE MOCKING HER STATEMENTS
All of India may have reacted in rage to the Kathua and Unnao rape cases, but it takes a very brave kind of public figure to continue to ignore the huge cost of voicing an opinion. Many shocked and appalled stars and filmmakers had hit the streets and taken to their social media handles to speak up against the incidents — everyone from Kareena Kapoor Khan to Huma Qureshi, Kalki Koechlin and Shah Rukh Khan protested with the hashtag #Justice For Our Child. But while everyone else went back to their daily lives, actress Swara Bhaskar is still fighting off trolls. They don’t seem to be tiring of harassing her — from urging people to not watch her upcoming movie Veere Di Wedding, to hurling vulgar abuse at her, these trolls won’t let up. But, then, neither will Swara.
So far, days after she spoke up about the cases, the actress is still being subjected to vicious trolling, with people morphing images of her tweets mocking her intentions. Strangely, not many of her colleagues in the industry have spoken up in support of her. Actor Prakash Raj, who has borne the brunt of malicious trolling, has lauded Swara’s efforts. “This is the tragedy of the country,” he sighs. “Those in the industry are also human. Today, when I stand for Swara, and she stands for me, we’re trolled equally. The point is that we should take things in our stride. We’re happy that at least the common man is supporting us. For every one troll, we get a hundred others who support us.” He adds that being attacked by trolls is a given when you choose to speak up, like Swara did. “I wish the industry took responsibility and gave us the feeling that we’re in this together. They should understand it can happen to them too,” he says.
PSWATI SHARMA “I wish the industry took responsibility and gave us the feeling that we’re in this together” — PRAKASH RAJ
ooja Bhatt says, “Trolls, an unfortunate reality, spew venom to provoke you. The ones who threaten harm should be reported and named. Like Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘ No one can insult me without my permission.’ I don’t give nameless, faceless people the power and permission to insult me.”