Malala Yousafzai loves being in the limelight, even if for mostly the wrong reasons. Recently, she posted a long rant on the Kashmir issue over her Twitter timeline, as shown below –
I am asking leaders, at #UNGA and beyond, to work towards peace in Kashmir, listen to Kashmiri voices and help children go safely back to school.
— Malala Yousafzai (@Malala) September 14, 2019
In this long rant, she wailed on how children and women were being maimed and tortured by the troops, and how they were not allowed to pursue education. Conveniently ignoring the role of Pakistan in worsening the issue, she tried to present another lopsided image of the entire Kashmir issue and urged the UNGA to intervene in the matter quickly.
However this time, Malala’s rants had absolutely no takers, and many netizens slammed her for her hypocritical stance. From Major Gaurav Arya [retd.] to even the likes of Barkha Dutt, Malala was roasted for shedding crocodile tears on Kashmir while being silent on the atrocities back home –
Dear @Malala, I wish you used honesty to judge any situation before jumping to your dramatic https://t.co/0Y6fF47oFJ see an average morning in Srinagar and apologise for the nonsense you alleged. Lost all respect for you ! https://t.co/cqO9jgyJhZ
— Shazia Ilmi (मोदी का परिवार) (@shaziailmi) September 16, 2019
Disappointing to see @Malala wade into cliched Pakistan state narrative about #Kashmir when the hard truth is that she can never even return to her own country because she was shot for the rights of girls to go to school.
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) September 15, 2019
https://twitter.com/MajorPoonia/status/1173512266815139840
No credibility left Malala. You have completely shown your true Pakistani colours. You are a Terror apologist hypocrite. Nobody takes you seriously any more https://t.co/NH60dnJrpO
— Manak Gupta (@manakgupta) September 15, 2019
Malala uses her Nobel winner status to talk only about Kashmir. What about Hindu/Sikh girls getting forcibly converted in Pakistan? What about Baloch? Malala’s statements are simply to please Pak Army so that she can return home.@NobelPrize You have honoured a female Khomeini. https://t.co/Lhz8bTkbWY
— Major Gaurav Arya (Retd) (@majorgauravarya) September 15, 2019
However, what surprised many was the stance of eminent pistol shooter Heena Sidhu, who took Malala to the cleaners for her hypocritical statements. To quote her tweet, “Ok so you propose handing over Kashmir to Pakistan because over there girls like yourself have had tooooo good of an education that you nearly lost your life and ran away from your country never to return. Why don’t you show us by going back to Pakistan first??”
Ok so you propose handing over Kashmir to Pakistan because over there girls like yourself have had tooooo good of an education that you nearly lost your life and ran away from your country never to return. Why dont you show us by going back to Pakistan first?? https://t.co/BWt8UoSyqV
— Heena SIDHU (@HeenaSidhu10) September 15, 2019
With just one tweet, Heena Sidhu has hit the bullseye in terms of slamming Malala for her Kashmir propaganda. Reminding her of the notion of ‘charity begins at home’, Heena not only criticized her for her hypocritical silence on the atrocities on ethnic minorities in Pakistan, but also suggested her to go back to Pakistan if she really meant what she said. No wonder that many people hailed Heena for having the guts to call a spade a spade, as shown below –
Bulls Eye! Trust ace shooter Olympian @HeenaSidhu10 to expose @Malala hypocrisy on #Kashmir. 👇 Thank God for social media to expose the 'rent a cause activists' exploited (willingly?) by powerful lobbies like the ISI. https://t.co/NmR5uv9EN1
— GAURAV C SAWANT (@gauravcsawant) September 16, 2019
Olympian @HeenaSidhu10 shows more honesty to call out @Malala than many of our NRI-academics who fawn over her every overrated word https://t.co/bmYhbrEb2P
— Minhaz Merchant (@MinhazMerchant) September 16, 2019
https://twitter.com/KSMANN/status/1173304153218723840
Heena Sidhu hits out at Malala Yousafzai over her tweet on Kashmir https://t.co/TauePy7xcw
— Republic (@republic) September 15, 2019
However, this is not the first time that Heena Sidhu has demolished the notion that a celebrity has to be politically correct in order to sustain his/her career. 3 years ago, when India was to participate in the Asian Airgun Championship at Tehran in Iran, Heena backed off from the same, refusing to accept the mandatory condition of having to wear a hijab and full sleeve clothing as a female participant. She had said, “If there was no discrimination in the world, this is how we would feel–like a sportsperson. This feeling of absolute equality is extremely addictive. And that is why sportspersons keep their sport clear of doping, match fixing, politics, unfair referees and biased rules. So why would I not object to wearing a hijab? Isn’t it going against the definition of sport? Is it okay because I am a girl?
Besides, I have a duty towards my nation as well as my sport. I chose to follow what my sport has taught me about equality. People asked me if I chose not to go to Iran because wearing a hijab would hamper my performance. Anybody who has played any sport knows that the only way to get better is to discover things that would impede one’s performance. We pursue challenges, we want to be defeated to learn, to get better. I would gladly wear a hijab if it would challenge my performance. But would I wear it and become a part of something that takes away from the essence of my sport? I choose not to.”
In a world where not being politically correct is considered as a sin, it is heartening to see the likes of Heena Sidhu stand up for what is actually right, even if it makes the leftist intelligentsia unhappy. We applaud her for her unequivocal approach and hope that she excels well at Tokyo Olympics 2020.
