Richa Chadha Shows The Shameless Entitlement Of Indian “Liberals”

Sutanu Guru, C Voter Foundation The fracas around the insensitive remarks of Richa Chadha about Galwan reveals the intolerant, holier than thou and bullying nature of so called liberals in India At the end of the day, it is a storm in a tea cup. A senior general of the Indian Army reportedly talked to the media about the ability and readiness of the armed forces to recapture Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. An idiotic and attention seeking “woke” actress called Richa Chadha responded to that news by posting a tweet: “Galwan says Hi”. There was a storm of outrage in social media with ordinary folks as well as celebrities calling out Richa Chadha for her insensitive and gratuitously insulting comments. The social media is a free for all theatre where hurling and exchanging abuses is common, and frequent. But so strong was the anger against her that Chadha issued a public apology and deleted her tweet. Indian liberals, of course, denounced the “fascist” hounding of Chadha by “authoritarian” and “majoritarian” right wing “Hindutva” forces. Their primary target was actor Akshay Kumar who had posted a tweet criticising Chadha: “Hurts to see this. Nothing ever should make us ungrateful towards our armed forces. Woh Hain To Aaj Hum Hain.” Indian “liberals” pounced on him as a bunch of feral, mad dogs. One journalist Rohini Singh posted a tweet: “Has @AkshayKumar given up his Canadian passport and become an Indian citizen yet?”. Another “journalist” Saba Naqvi posted: “In solidarity with Indian citizen @RichaChadha. No time for Canadians.” Rohini Singh seems to work for the controversial news portal The Wire. Ironically, the editor in chief, S. Varadarajan-a leading “liberal”-is not an Indian citizen. Just imagine the audacity of this Rohini Singh; work for a non Indian and criticise others for not being Indian. Saba Naqvi had “reported” in 2014 that there was an Arvind Kejriwal wave in the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency where Narendra Modi was a candidate. The less said the better. The fact is these “liberals” are least bothered about Indian citizenship. They happily endorse social media posts of celebrities like Rihanna, Mia Khalifa and Martina Navratilova when they criticise the Modi government. But how dare “Canadian” Kumar criticise Richa Chadha? For all the author cares, Akshay Kumar maybe a fraud. But that is not the issue. If Richa Chadha can wade into an issue and publicly issue her comments, does Akshay Kumar have the same right or not? But then, Indian “liberals” think only they have that right; anyone else who doesn’t agree with them is a “troll”. Nor are the “liberals” really bothered about the dignity and safety of women if she is not a fellow liberal. Another Wire journalist Arfa Khannum Sherwani slammed Akshay Kumar for endangering Richa Chadha by posting: “ Asking questions is the greatest act of patriotism. Sucking up to the government is cowardice. Shame on you Akshay Kumar for unleashing fascist troll army on Richa Chadha.” Read the words again: fascist troll army. Now go back in time and recall what happened with actor Kangana Ranaut in Mumbai. She maybe a nutcase and a fraud. Yet, her office was illegally demolished and a top Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut publicly called her a “haramkhor” and his colleagues made all sorts of obscene threats against her. None of these self styled “liberals” came to her defence. In fact, many laughed at her misery. After all, she supports the “fascist” Narendra Modi. How dare she? The Nupur Sharma incident of 2022 is more recent. Just because she aid something allegedly derogatory about Prophet Mohammed, her life is effectively over. A death threat looms over her head permanently till she is alive. It may take a few years, but there are high chances that a fanatic will kill her. How do Indian “liberals” defend an Indian woman facing death threats? Read the post from a “liberal” icon Karuna Nundy and draw your own conclusions: “ Obviously the threats against Nupur Sharma are unconscionable. That she abandoned her fringe voice as a relatively calm panellist to scream religious slogan and bully Muslims show where core party values lie and how they seek to instigate mass support.” Richa Chadha has the right to be offensive; but Nupur Sharma must blame herself for genuine threats to her life. Another favourite target of Indian “liberals” is actor Anupam Kher. Again, for all the author knows or cares, he may be a phoney or a fraud. But that’s not the issue. Soon after the Narendra Modi regime abolished Article 370 that gave special powers to Jammu& Kashmir, Anupam Kher posted: “Kashmir solution has begun.” A dyed in wool Indian “liberal” Samar Harlankar responded typically: The Nazis used the term Endsolung, or final solution, as the “answer” to the “Jewish” question.” Do note the references to Nazis and fascism here. It is so predictable that it is laughable. More “liberals” questioned his right to even talk about the Kashmir issue. For instance, anchors of the popular food show Highway On My Plate Rocky & Mayur posted: “He is a born and bred Shimla Himachali guy. Nothing to do with Kashmir or Kashmiri Pandits”. Dozens of “liberal” Indian journalists endorsed them. Yet, they themselves love to condemn Israel for “atrocities” against Palestinians. If Anupam Kher is not a Kashmiri and thus has no right to talk about the issue, what right do Indian “liberals” have to talk about far away Palestine? These are simple common sense questions. But so deluded are Indian “liberals” living in echo chambers that they don’t realise most Indians now treat them with derision and disdain. About the Author: After his master’s degree in economics, Sutanu Guru has been a journalist for more than 30 years in media outlets like Times of India, Economic Times, Business Today, Business World, Business India & others. Currently, he focuses more on research and writing. DISCLAIMER This is the personal opinion of the author. The views expressed in this write-up have nothing to do with those of prameyanews.com.