7.33 AM Thursday, 25 April 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:26 05:44 12:20 15:47 18:50 20:08
25 April 2024

Singer gets threats for speaking against Salman Khan

Singer Sona Mohapatra said India has chosen a wrong hero in Salman Khan. (Pic: Facebook)

Published
By Ajanta Paul

It's been four days since social media erupted over the controversial rape remark made by Bollywood actor Salman Khan.

Things may have cooled down for the beefy actor as he enjoys the IIFA awards weekend in Madrid but not for 'few' who spoke against his insensitive remark.

So what did Khan say? The 'Sultan' actor said his heavy training schedule for the upcoming film left him feeling "like a raped woman".

This analogy didn't go down well with many and stirred a controversy.

Singer Sona Mohapatra was among the few who raised her voice. But to muzzle her opinion the Khan army on social media is trolling her incessantly and giving rape threats.

She wrote on Twitter that India has chosen a wrong 'hero' who apparently thrashed women, killed endangered animals and was tried for killing people on pavement.

Although, Mohapatra was thrashed left, right and centre by Khan's loyal fans, she remained defiant.

Following that, she has penned a beautiful and daring letter which everyone must read.

"A 21 year old was brutally gang raped in Bihar's Motihari town. Guns & wooden sticks inserted into her, putting her in a critical condition. The culprits are absconding. Yet again.

Meanwhile Soni Sori has been fasting for the 9th day to get justice for other such brutalised & killed women in Chattisgarh.

No TV news debate on this. No glamour there I suppose. Every time I was called to opine on these debates the last few days, the moment I brought up the bigger issue that needs to be talked about & not merely what I said about a comment made by an imbecile..silence..no takers.

So I avoided them all.


The fact that I have been mercilessly trolled  in the last 48 hours, with 1000's of rape threats, inundated with morphed naked porn images & threatened to be put out of work & lots more is only an indication of the poison in our society. Poison that gets a chance to flow freely when national 'Icons' created not only by their followers & audience but encouraged by their peers & media, regularly misbehave, talk rubbish, do rubbish, don't get punished, don't learn from their mistakes but instead get encouraged, celebrated, pack cinema halls & become brand ambassadors of 'goodwill'.

Depressing to say the least.

Can't give up though. I have trained all my life for this. Have to get up, dust myself & live a life worth living.

& in a Billion plus country, containing the largest population of many many good, honourable, hard working people, I will not let the the stupid, dangerous, nasty few win. Who will put us out of 'work'?? Salman Khan??!! That 'talented' (!?) thug? I don't think so. I can think of 100 different ways to make a living & thrive but I will choose to sing & perform my music till the last day. Not him, not anyone can stop that.

I cannot even imagine the pain of that 21 year old girl, her family & the struggles of Soni Sori but I do know that I can commit to their cause. We are all linked up by the same umbilical cord. Rape is no joking matter."

Rape is no joke. It is a heinous crime that should be fought and dealt with stringent laws. And in the process the mindset of people like Salman Khan, who thinks such analogy is witty, needs to change.

Bollywood, for the longest time, has been blind to gender sensitivity. It has shrugged its responsibility towards society and the power it possess to influence positivity.