Priyanka Chopra’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin led to many heated debates, and Bhubaneshwar was no exception. But one particularly nasty incident occurred on June 1, 2017, when a young college student commented on a public post by the self-proclaimed Odiya actor Buddhaditya Mohanty. Mohanty had tried to shame Priyanka Chopra over her dress worn during the meeting. Moreover, he asked feminists to stay away from the post. I understand that this is the age of trolling, and I have seen people trolling everyone from politicians to journalists and even celebrities. But do these people ever realise that their true natures are being exposed because of such trolling?
This was Mohanty’s post:
What Priyanka wore was her decision. Who are we to decide what others should wear? Moreover, she was wearing it in Berlin, and not in Bhubaneswar. Just because she is Indian, people like Buddhaditya take the opportunity to shame her.
Unfortunately, his mindset is similar to that of many Indians: “women should behave in a certain manner, women should dress in a particular way, women should think in a particular way” and so on. This should not be tolerated in this era. This is a time when women are aware of their rights. And like-minded women will always come up to support women like Priyanka Chopra, who has become the subject of much discussion and trolling. Did PM Modi ever say he was disgraced to see Priyanka wearing a dress that exposed her legs? They were just legs! We all have legs. Why, then, is it a problem for people like Buddhaditya Mohanty? People who don’t have anything to do enjoy making fun of others.
Moreover, the hatred with which Buddhaditya Mohanty replied to the college student, Prathna Panda, who pointed out he was wrong, is shocking.
This is how we ‘respect’ women in India. How, then, do we men dare to feel entitled to any kind of respect? People like these should be exposed. A person who has no respect for women should not talk about sanskriti.
We are with you, Prathna Panda.
Note: Buddhaditya Mohanty has since issued a clarification, alleging that his account had been hacked when these messages were sent, and has apologised.
