Letter
To
The
Entire
Nation
I
write
this
to
an
entire
nation
because
no
one
individual
can
be
held
responsible
for
bringing
about
change
in
the
mindset
of
a
billion
odd
people.
Change
can
only
happen
if
there
is
awareness
at
an
individual
level.
Shruti's
View
On
the
morning
of
28th
June,
I
made
the
grave
mistake
of
expressing
my
views
on
an
initiative
called
#selfiewithdaughter which
had
been
blessed
by
our
PM.
Most
people
found
it
to
be
a
sweet
gesture
and
a
means
to
create
awareness
about
female
infanticide.
I,
sadly,
didn't
find
the
idea
very
palatable.
Keep
in
mind
that
I
have
an
eleven-month
daughter
of
my
own.
But
I
expect
more
from
the
man
who's
supposed
to
usher
in
a
new
era
of
change,
not
just
tenuous
surface-level
initiatives.
Result
Of
Expressing
Her
View
I
then
made
a
graver
mistake
of
posting
this
opinion
on
Twitter.
So
not
only
did
I
dare
to
think,
I
also
dared
to
place
my
thoughts
in
the
public
domain.
And
then,
at
the
risk
of
sounding
overly-Shakespearean,
the
floodgates
of
hell
opened.
I
was
subjected
to
a
tsunami
of
hate
tweets.
48
hours
of
non
stop
trolling.
The
tweets
were
targeted
at
me,
my
family,
my
'Muslim'
husband,
my
11
month
old
daughter
and,
of
course,
my
non-existent,
dwindling,
no-good
career
as
an
actor.
Daring
To
Criticise
The
PM
I
had
made
an
unsavoury
comment
about
our
Prime
Minister
by
calling
him
-
*gasp*
- #selfieobsessed and
asking
him
to
choose
reform
over
gimmickry.
Was
I
wrong?
Was
I
too
harsh?
Apparently,
for
those
who
support
him
and
the
ruling
government,
unquestioningly
so.
I,
as
a
member
of
the
tax-paying
electorate
of
India,
did
not
have
the
right
to
comment
on
his
policy.
I
had
dared
to
challenge
his
authority.
I
had
abused
the
highest
office
of
the
country
(which
is
the
President,
by
the
way).
Does
She
Deserve
This?
And
so
I
deserved
to
be
punished.
And
punished
In
a
manner
commensurate
with
the
vitriol
that
the
anonymity
&
access
of
Twitter
so
easily
provide.
Men
and
women
alike
said
the
most
vile
things
about
me,
stripping
me
of
all
my
dignity
as
someone's
daughter,
wife
and
mother
and
most
importantly
a
woman.
Men
who
were
busy
hash-tagging
their
selfies
with
their
daughters
one
minute
called
me
slanderous
names
the
next.
Asked
me
if
I
knew
who
my
real
father
was.
Questioned
if
I
had
been
sexually
abused
as
a
child
and
hence
was
opposed
to
the
idea
of
a
selfie
with
my
father.
And
these
are
the
relatively
polite
ones.
Well
done,
gentlemen. Your
daughters
must
be
so
proud.
Women
Against
Woman
Women,
who
are
meant
to
empower
each
other,
asked
me
if
I
was
a
prostitute
and
if
I
was
planning
on
doing
the
same
with
my
daughter.
Whether
I
was
trying
to
gain
some
fame
and
resurrect
my
failed
career
by
using
the
prime
minister's
name.
I
shudder
to
think
of
the
deep
respect
your
sons
will
have
for
the
opposite
sex.
Point
Well
Made
So
here's
the
thing.
What
is
the
point
of
taking
selfies
with
your
girls
when
you're
also
responsible
for
creating
the
most
toxic
environment
for
them
to
grow
up
in?
How
will
taking
a
photograph
nullify
the
misogyny
and
patriarchy
that
is
so
deeply
entrenched
in
our
society?
Did
You
Think?
Why
bother
to
increase
the
number
of
girls
being
born
when
you
choose
to
treat
them
with
such
indignity
and
disrespect?
All
those
who
trolled
me
incessantly
for
forty
eight
hours,
did
you
for
once
stop
and
think
that
I,
too,
am
someone's
daughter?
Did
you
ever
ask
yourselves how
you'd
feel
if
it
were
your
daughter
at
the
receiving
end
of
all
that
hate?
I'm
guessing
the
answer
is
a
big,
resounding
"No".
Because,
you
know,
you
were
too
busy
pouting
for
the
camera
&
getting
'likes' and
'RT's
to
your #selfiewithdaughter.
Direct
Message
To
The
PM
As
for
our
esteemed
PM,
I
have
this
to
say
to
him:
Dear
Sir,
If
you
truly
wish
to
empower
women
I
urge
you
to
condemn
this
kind
of
hatred
being
spread
in
your
name.
Regretfully,
I
deleted
my
initial
tweet
because
of
the
backlash.
But
I
stand
by
what
I
said
and
I'll
reiterate
it
here:
"Selfies
don't
bring
about
change,
reform
does.
So
please
try
and
be
bigger
than
a
photograph.
Come
on!"
The
Last
Words
And
as
for
my
initial
reservation
about
the
initiative
being
nothing
more
than
eyewash,
I
am
deeply
saddened
to
see
that,
in
the
end,
I
was
proved
right.