United Nations goodwill representative and famous Indian actress Priyanka Chopra, amongst other Indian celebrities, is confronting criticism for raising her voice for Mahsa Amini’s death in Iran. Still, she remained silent on human rights destruction against Muslims in her own country, India.
Chopra, 40, who lives in the US, recently appeared on Instagram, where she has over 82 million followers, to show her support for the women protesting in Iran, where the authorities are hailing women for showing rebelliousness to the government, asking followers to “stay informed and be vocal.”
“To ensure that this movement will have a lasting effect, we must hear their call, understand the issues and then join in with our collective voices,” she wrote.
Irani women are getting involved in protests supporting Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old girl who died in protection after being imprisoned for not wearing the hijab “properly.” Thousands have reached the streets, openly burnt their hijabs, and cut their hair, protesting for the rights of the deceased against the authorities. Dozens have testified to being killed in the chaos.
Chopra said that she was in “awe” of these women’s bravery and that it was “not easy to risk life, to challenge the patriarchal establishment, and fight for your rights.”
The UNICEF goodwill ambassador is, though, being criticized for her “double standards,” not raising their voice for Muslim women in India, who have been confronted for wearing hijab in numerous Islamophobic incidents.
Indian journalist Rana Ayyub posted a video of a BJP MP announcing a financial boycott of Muslims to point out how celebrities speak about Iran but neglect the “fascism” at home.
“Indian celebrities speaking about Iran will look the other way through this fascism and apartheid in their home country.”
A law professor and author, Khalid Beydoun, posted a screenshot of Chopra’s post and asked her if she had “any word to say” about the conditions in India’s Karnataka and its anti-hijab laws.
Priyanka Chopra has always been involved in “selective outrage,” for which the audience criticizes her a lot as well. In 2020, she was criticized for being supportive of the matter of the Black Lives Matter movement in the US but not uttering a word about the minorities in India.
“Priyanka Chopra stands up for American black lives and Iranian women because doing so adds to her “woke” credentials in the US but never for Indian Muslims because doing so hurts her “nationalist” credentials in India,” said a Twitter user.
hypocrisy she has been showing through her dual standards is beyond discussion. Social media users perceive Indian celebrities and media houses, with some sending off comments on Chopra’s original post. Her behavior is justified and understandable because a recent study by the Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) on Islamophobia exposed that most anti-Muslim content on Twitter initiates from India.