Bollywood actor and social activist Gul Panag became the latest victim of the “cancel culture” after ‘liberal’ trolls online asked for boycotting and cancelling her because she posted a tweet welcoming a former Army doctor whose Twitter account was suspended temporarily. Panag was heavily trolled by the leftwing outrage mob for expressing delight at the return of popular Twitter user @theskindoctor13, known for his patriotic and nationalist views.
The Twitter account @theskindoctor13 was temporarily suspended on Thursday, possibly because he was mass reported by a group of leftist trolls on Twitter. His suspension was celebrated by a number of leftwing ideologues and journalists, as he was known for busting their propaganda and calling out the lies peddled by them. After his account was restored today, The Skin Doctor posted his gratitude to everyone who supported him and raised their voice in getting his account restored.
Ms Panag responded to the tweet saying: “You’re back”, with a rose emoji.
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The comment welcoming @theskindoctor13 Panag did not sit well with the leftwing trolls, who were already reeling under the pain of @theskindoctor13’s return. As a consequence, a raft of leftwing trolls started targeting the actor, whom they perceived to be on “their side” and called on for “cancelling” her.
Leftist online trolls unleash their fury on Gul Panag for tweet to The Skin Doctor
Many Twitter called for unfollowing Gul Panag, apparently because she posted in support of a person known for his nationalist views.
A leftwing troll said one of the benefits of The Skin Doctor’s return to Twitter was that it exposed “closet Sanghi” Gul Panag.
Another Twitter user had a piece of advice for Muslims. Quoting Panag’s tweet to The Skin Doctor, the user said Muslims should remember that Sikhs are the oldest enemies and all liberals are hidden Sanghis.
Then, there were others who were upset at a ‘liberal’ welcoming a seemingly right-wing Twitter account and did not shy away from using a bit harsh language.
One Twitter user went so far as to insinuate that Gul was akin to female supporters of German dictator Adolf Hitler.
Gul Panag heeds to online criticism, makes false equivalence between left-wing outrage mob with right-wing
The actor took cognisance of the hate being directed towards her for her comment and posted a tweet saying: “The problem with the Indian left is that it is increasingly becoming like the right. All well till you agree with their narrative. Disagree and all hell breaks loose. Discuss.”
The problem with the liberal left is that it’s increasingly becoming like the right. All well till you agree with their narrative. Disagree and all hell breaks lose.
— Gul Panag (@GulPanag) August 6, 2021
Discuss . 🌹@RaisinaSeries @rohini_sgh @Sherbir @theskindoctor13 @SandipGhose @ARanganathan72 pic.twitter.com/PQ6GtNNueu
The actor shared a screenshot of a quoted tweet by a person who said, “Let the record reflect that Gul Panag tweeted this”.
In her defence, Gul said it is possible to engage with people and not agree with their political views. She further added that the individual in question, i.e The Skin Doctor, is an ex-Army Doctor. It may be noted that Gul Panag’s father was a Lieutenant General in Indian Army and she is close with many army officers.
In an attempt to assuage her leftwing fan-following, which seems to have taken a beating following her tweet, Panag pontificated that a binary attitude of “either us” or “against us” makes them as “bad” as the right-wing. However, she is being disingenuous here, given that it was the leftwing outrage mob that called for her cancellation and abused her for a seemingly anodyne tweet. Additionally, the “cancel culture” and calling for “social ostracism” of people who do not hew to a particular ideology is a leftist practice.
Instead of denouncing them unequivocally, Panag drew a false equivalence between the left-wing outrage mob and right-wing Twitter users, perhaps in a bid to placate her leftist supporters and make amends for her tweet to The Skin Doctor.
