Pooja Singh- a girl from Lucknow- is getting rape threats and abuses on twitter for making a request to change customer representative on religious grounds which were instantly termed as bigotry by some on social media. Along with her, Airtel Telecom Company is also facing flak. People on social media are threatening to boycott Airtel and its services just because they apparently complied with the request made by one of their customers. While her statement was in poor taste, the subsequent barrage of rape threats she was subjected to were highly disproportionate response and can not be rationalised by highlighting her perceived bigotry as the leftist-liberal lynch mob is trying to do.
Nowadays it has become a fashion to label anyone as a bigot whose opinions and believes differ from the opinions of so-called self-appointed guardians of the society. When the liberal peacenik, Gurmehar Kaur, received rape threats they all made a Freedom of Expression warrior out of her but when Pooja Singh is getting rape threats they are justifying it, trolling her and calling it the result of her bigotry. A Kerala based left-wing writer and activist J Devika had recently said that she will boycott each and every auto-rickshaw with Lord Hanuman poster. Again, she was hailed as a hero and secularist warrior. This is just shameless celebration of hypocrisy. Very same people were celebrating Gauri Lankesh in the name of Freedom of Expression who was known for her derogatory comments against Hindu religion but now the same crusaders of FoE have launched a venomous and hateful attack against Pooja Singh for exercising her FoE.
https://twitter.com/rawisai6/status/1008984153700700161
This tweet perfectly sumps up their hypocrisy.
https://twitter.com/reviewero/status/1008997685913964546
Even a former J&K Chief Minister trolled her for speaking her mind.
Dear @Airtel_Presence this conversation is genuine (I’ve seen the timeline myself). I refuse to pay another penny to a company that condones such blatant bigotry. I’m beginning the process of porting my number to another service provider & canceling my DTH & Broadband. pic.twitter.com/BZxJOaEsN6
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) June 18, 2018
Ashok Pandit, a Kashmiri Pandit and victim of Islamic Fundamentalism lamented Omar Abdullah for his hypocrisy.
https://twitter.com/ashokepandit/status/1008957362961637376
Barkha Dutt who was crying a few days ago about alleged danger to her life went to the extent of writing an article defaming Pooja Singh. She is the same person who converted a terrorist into a son of a poor headmaster and she converted FoE of a Hindu girl into bigotry.
The Anti-Muslim bigot @pooja303singh – claims to be a proud fan of the Indian Army. She just shamed the uniform with her prejudice. For THIS- is what the Army teaches us about pluralism. My piece in @TheWeekLive https://t.co/dajUyMaA6Z
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) June 19, 2018
Barkha Dutt went to the extent of calling Pooja Singh an anti-national.
Dear @pooja303singh that photo of our flag you have in your DP- you just let it down. If ever the horrible phrase anti national was meant for anyone; it's for you- for insulting the book that matters above all- the Constitution https://t.co/XcDia6TTJn
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) June 18, 2018
Journalists who outraged over allegedly bigoted request should also outrage over the rape threats that she is getting. Their silence only implies that they are supporting those who are giving her rape threats. No matter what the case is rape threats are unacceptable just like bigotry. Peoples who maintained a stoic silence on the rape threats to Hindu girl speaks volume of their agenda.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh police have taken cognizance of the rape threats. It is expected that all the culprits will be arrested soon.
Ma'am kindly share your calling number in message box.
— Call 112 (@112UttarPradesh) June 19, 2018
Airtel too has come out with a strong statement criticizing religion and caste angle and the unfair criticism it faced for taking up the girl’s service request.
Did Airtel really bow down to a discriminatory request? Maybe you should read this. pic.twitter.com/Mr7b8Pgrci
— airtel India (@airtelindia) June 20, 2018
The constant hounding of the girl for an off-the-cuff remark proves the point that leftist-liberals go after with all their might against anyone who diverges from their point of view. It was visible during their hounding of Anand Rangnathan for criticizing Shujaat Bukhari during a panel discussion and it was visible during the so-called ‘Angry Hanuman’ row. Pooja Singh is only the latest name in a long list of people targeted for not toeing the line.
