Sonam Kapoor Lambasted for Sharing Post Saying Soldiers Pay the Price for ‘Hindu-Islamic Fundamentalists’

Sonam Kapoor Lambasted for Sharing Post Saying Soldiers Pay the Price for 'Hindu-Islamic Fundamentalists'
Sonam Kapoor Lambasted for Sharing Post Saying Soldiers Pay the Price for ‘Hindu-Islamic Fundamentalists’

Amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan, Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor-Ahuja has come under fire for promoting allegedly ‘anti-Hindu’ sentiments on her social media.

The actress recently shared a post by the Facebook parody page ‘Humans of Hindutva’ on her Instagram handle’s ‘Stories’ feature. The popular Snapchat-inspired feature allows users to put up short posts that last for 24 hours before disappearing from the account.

The message that Sonam copy-pasted word for word on her story was a message against those spreading hate in the wake of rising Indo-Pak tensions.It said that the average Indians and Pakistanis had a lot in common with each other but it was Hindu and Islamic fundamentalists who were responsible for war.

The post is as follows:

“The average Indian has more in common with the average Pakistani than he does with a Hindu fundamentalist who wants to bomb in the name of Ram and lynch minorities and rally in support of child rapists.
The average Pakistani has more in common with an average Indian than he does with an Islamic fundamentalist who wants to bomb others in the name of Allah and oppress women and put guns in the hands of children.
Ordinary citizens everywhere just want to have a normal life and go to work and raise their children well and save up for a decent home.

Hindu and Islamic fundamentalists both have loads in common. Their minds are poisoned by hate and they both lack empathy for the other side. They both want war and do not care for its consequences. The cost of this extraordinary hatred of fundamentalists in both countries is eventually going to be paid by the ordinary citizens of both countries and the soldiers who are always first in line of a fire they did not ignite.”

The post was originally shared by ‘Humans of Hindutva’ on their Facebook page and has been shared over 1,800 times.

‘Humans of Hindutva’ is a popular page that often shares jokes and satirical content which can be construed as critical of the Hindu right wing. However, in the wake of recent developments between India and Pakistan, many have called out Sonam for sharing ‘anti-Hindu’ propaganda.

Sonam was not the only actor who received hate. Avantika Khan, wife of actor Imran Khan also received similar reactions for sharing the same post on her own Instagram account.

On Wednesday, an Indian Air Force pilot was captured by Pakistan’s military forces after they shot down two IAF aircrafts in Pakistani airspace following IAF’s airstrikes in Balakot on Tuesday. While India reportedly shot down a PAF Mig-16, tensions simmered as they released stills and images of wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman who is currently in Pak custody.

Following the developments, social media which was already aflame hate and confusion following the Feb 14 Pulwama attack that killed 40 jawans, became further polarised with some hashtagging for peace while others engaging in rampant warmongering.

On Wednesday evening, netizens from both India and Pakistan used the hashtag #SayNoToWar to tweet against the warmongering and demand peace. Many from Bollywood also joined in.

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