NEW DELHI. Trolls haven’t stopped targeting Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone ever since she stood with the JNU students who had been attacked by masked goons in their own campus.
Here are the two major attacks faced by Padukone from trolls and why it is time to shut them up:
Troll Attack 1: “Deepika is anti-national for she stood with those seeking destruction of India”

How is expressing solidarity with victims of violence or standing up to maintain the social fabric of India anti-national? In fact, it is the most nationalist thing to do.

If opposing violence is anti-national, then by that logic our father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi is probably the biggest anti-national of them all.
There was nothing political about what Padukone did. She just stood peacefully with victims of violence, without uttering a word. It is the guilt-consciousness of those people who perceive it as a stand against their political ideology. She didn’t speak against any political outfit. And even if she did, as a tax-paying citizen of India, she is well within her democratic rights to do so.
We need more Deepikas who stand up with oppressed and repressed.
Troll Attack 2: “Cheap publicity stunt to promote Chhapaak”, “her film should be boycotted”

Firstly, Padukone is among the top female stars in the country. She doesn’t need to go to an educational institute to grab eyeballs. In fact, it’s very brave of her to call out violence at a time her first production is due to release.
She was fully aware that her actions could spell boycott calls for her film from those trolls unhappy with her presence at JNU.
In an industry, where stars prefer to maintain silence over important issues concerning the country, Padukone’s mistake was she broke the norm and took the risk of displaying spine. In hindsight, the best promotional recourse for her was to keep mum like her Bollywood counterparts, but she didn’t and we are grateful and proud of her for that.
Ironically, she stood up for physical violence, but unfortunately was subjected to brutal digital violence from trolls.
How heartless have we become as a society, that we seek debacle of a film with an extremely important social message? A film that deserves to be seen multiple times and made tax-free countrywide, is being boycotted because the lead protagonist took a stand against violence. Let’s hang our heads in shame.