Unless you have been living under a rock, you must have witnessed the public spat between Hindi film actress Kangana Ranaut and Punjabi singer/actor Diljit Dosanjh. Things went pretty ugly pretty soon with both of them upping their abuse game with every subsequent tweet.
Both public personalities lost their cool but ‘liberals’ hailed Diljit because Kangana ‘deserved it’. These ‘liberals’ very vocally advocate mental health and are against bullying of any sort. Except, for Kangana, because she totally ‘deserved it’.
In fact, it is not just that. Kangana also gets mocked by same ‘liberals’ and gets name-called, which imply she has mental health issues. Except, on regular days, they advocate how mental health issues should not be mocked.
Here is an example. One Mini Nair here identifies herself as some writer. She is followed by the so-called liberals on Twitter.
This is what she thinks about mental health.
Mental illness is real. If you see anybody suffering, then please reach out. There are researched medicines and experienced counsellors to get you out.
— Mini Nair (@minicnair) February 19, 2020
Like a physical ailment, mental illness has to be cured.
Don’t self medicate. See a physician.#depression https://t.co/RAJRw2F86b
When I asked a young girl 17, to describe what she was going through (depression) , ‘I feel like I am in a thick wooden blanket smothered yet comfortable. I know that I have to get out. But I cant.There is a strange joy in isolation
— Mini Nair (@minicnair) February 6, 2020
Mental health matters. Reach out#Mentalhealth
See how she’s being empathetic in her tweets? She wants people to empathise with people suffering from mental health issues. Know what she has to say to Kangana?
Apparently, Kangana is a ‘case study’ in ‘Egomania’.They should have started your treatment , back then ! Anyways….. parents miss signals the kids sent!
— Mini Nair (@minicnair) December 7, 2020
Case study
— Mini Nair (@minicnair) December 7, 2020
Here is what former NDTV employee Nidhi Razdan has to speak about mental health.
We must pay attention to mental health, she says. What did she say when Kangana was being abused?There are lots of reasons people are depressed. Anxiety about the future, loneliness etc we must pay attention to mental health
— Nidhi Razdan (@Nidhi) April 17, 2020
And her further conversation with Newslaundry employee.Doing crash course in Punjabi
— Nidhi Razdan (@Nidhi) December 3, 2020
How is this not bullying?I haven’t understood a word but I think he’s making sense 🤣
— Nidhi Razdan (@Nidhi) December 3, 2020
Another one of the ‘liberal’ favourite is Swara Bhaskar. Here is what she had to say about Kangana vs Diljit fight.
मैं ना कहती थी.. थक जा बहन!!! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 आज दिलजीत ने पंजाबी में समझा दिया! 🤩🤩🤩 @diljitdosanjh @KanganaTeam #कंगना_चुपचाप_माफी_माँग महिंदर कौर जी से।
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) December 3, 2020
Few weeks back, this is what she had to say about celebrities and mental health.
And this.Dear media houses, websites & other so-called news disseminating portals. Make sure that in your सनसनीख़ेज़ headlines u mention the words ‘mental health’.. I said -just because someone is famous doesn’t mean something wrong cannot happen with their mental health! MENTAL HEALTH.
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) August 19, 2020
Apologies Shreyasi! Twas a sarcastic comment coming from exhaustion @ dealing with hate on twitter. Not meant 2 offend- quite frankly I didn’t think the Statement through. I’m sorry to have upset anyone with flippancy. 🙏🏿❣️ totally agree that mental health issues be destigmatised https://t.co/HRCjmKNtwF
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) October 10, 2018
Because all the bullying Kangana is receiving will clearly not affect her mental health because you know, Kangana ‘deserves this’.
These are just three examples. There are numerous others on similar lines.
Brands, too, decided to take a swipe.
In a now-deleted tweet, Zomato gave a tacit support to Diljit.
Online payment gateway MobiKwik, too, sided with Diljit before deleting the tweet.
And then of course, the main opposition party, Congress.
Kangana Ranaut’s home town is in Himachal Pradesh. While the Congress party, Zomato and Mobikwik can claim that their tweets had nothing to do with Diljit, the timing of the tweets fail to substantiate such a claim.
Abusing Kangana is a free hit.
And no, by no means am I endorsing Kangana. Crass behaviour on either side was wrong. This just lowers the bar of public discourse. Because the moment you lose your cool, you lose the argument.
It is the justification of abuse received by her by the ‘liberals’ that is a cause of concern. This is also bullying. You are encouraging more people to go and abuse her by endorsing it. What is good for the goose should be good for the gander.
And if you really think Kangana deserves the hate and abuses she gets along with mockery of her ‘mental health’, drop the facade and embrace your hypocrisy. Stop calling yourself ‘liberal’ and accept that you are just as hateful as the next troll who abuses you and mocks your mental health.
Because if Kangana deserves it, so do you.
