This image was posted on Facebook by Shruti Seth Aslam
New Delhi:
Actress Shruti Seth, who has been subjected to abuse of the vilest sort on Twitter since Monday, has now tweeted a lengthy note addressing the trolls who poured such scorn on her. The 37-year-old actress, a familiar face from TV show Shararat and films like Fanaa, criticised the #SelfieWithDaughter campaign and PM Modi's endorsing of it in his radio address Mann Ki Baat.
She later deleted her tweets, after being inundated with tweets in which she was described as a 'bitch' and 'prostitute,' accused of treason and even worse. Despite her signing off from the hate-filled debate at least twice, the attacks did not stop.
In a note just posted on her Twitter account, Shruti writes that she made the "grave mistake" of expressing her views and the "graver mistake of posting this opinion on Twitter."
She writes, "And then, at the risk of sounding overly-Shakespearean, the floodgates of hell opened. I was subjected to a tsunami of hate tweets. 48 hours of non stop trolling. The tweets were targeted at me, my family, my 'Muslim' husband, my 11 month old daughter and, of course, my non-existent, dwindling, no-good career as an actor." Shruti is married to Break Ke Baad director Danish Aslam.
She describes the vitriol that was unleashed on her: "Men and women alike said the most vile things about me, stripping me of all my dignity as someone's daughter, wife and mother and most importantly a woman. Men who were busy hash-tagging their selfies with their daughters one minute called me slanderous names the next. Asked me if I knew who my real father was. Questioned if I had been sexually abused as a child and hence was opposed to the idea of a selfie with my father. And these are the relatively polite ones. Well done, gentlemen. Your daughters must be so proud.
Women, who are meant to empower each other, asked me if I was a prostitute and if I was planning on doing the same with my daughter."
She asks this of her trolls: "What is the point of taking selfies with your girls when you're also responsible for creating the most toxic environment for them to grow up in? How will taking a photograph nullify the misogyny and patriarchy that is so deeply entrenched in our society? Why bother to increase the number of girls being born when you choose to treat them with such indignity and disrespect?"
In a separate note at the end addressed to PM Modi, Shruti asks him to "condemn the kind of hatred being spread in (his) name." She also explains that she deleted her original tweet because of the abuse she faced but that she stands by what she said the - "Selfies don't bring about change, reform does. So please try and be bigger than a photograph."
In the days that have passed since she was attacked for her tweets, Shruti has energetically responded to most of those trolling her. Several users have also issued tweets in support of her, like this one:
She later deleted her tweets, after being inundated with tweets in which she was described as a 'bitch' and 'prostitute,' accused of treason and even worse. Despite her signing off from the hate-filled debate at least twice, the attacks did not stop.
In a note just posted on her Twitter account, Shruti writes that she made the "grave mistake" of expressing her views and the "graver mistake of posting this opinion on Twitter."
She writes, "And then, at the risk of sounding overly-Shakespearean, the floodgates of hell opened. I was subjected to a tsunami of hate tweets. 48 hours of non stop trolling. The tweets were targeted at me, my family, my 'Muslim' husband, my 11 month old daughter and, of course, my non-existent, dwindling, no-good career as an actor." Shruti is married to Break Ke Baad director Danish Aslam.
She describes the vitriol that was unleashed on her: "Men and women alike said the most vile things about me, stripping me of all my dignity as someone's daughter, wife and mother and most importantly a woman. Men who were busy hash-tagging their selfies with their daughters one minute called me slanderous names the next. Asked me if I knew who my real father was. Questioned if I had been sexually abused as a child and hence was opposed to the idea of a selfie with my father. And these are the relatively polite ones. Well done, gentlemen. Your daughters must be so proud.
Women, who are meant to empower each other, asked me if I was a prostitute and if I was planning on doing the same with my daughter."
She asks this of her trolls: "What is the point of taking selfies with your girls when you're also responsible for creating the most toxic environment for them to grow up in? How will taking a photograph nullify the misogyny and patriarchy that is so deeply entrenched in our society? Why bother to increase the number of girls being born when you choose to treat them with such indignity and disrespect?"
In a separate note at the end addressed to PM Modi, Shruti asks him to "condemn the kind of hatred being spread in (his) name." She also explains that she deleted her original tweet because of the abuse she faced but that she stands by what she said the - "Selfies don't bring about change, reform does. So please try and be bigger than a photograph."
In the days that have passed since she was attacked for her tweets, Shruti has energetically responded to most of those trolling her. Several users have also issued tweets in support of her, like this one:
This Shruti Seth came from nowhere and is already a boss!
Baba Manhattani (@BabaGlocal) June 29, 2015