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Neha Dhupia faces sexist comments on Twitter for criticising 'good governance' of Modi government

Written By Nirmalya Dutta | Updated: Jul 21, 2015, 10:44 PM IST

There's one sure-shot way to make sure you get attention on social media these days, criticise the BJP government or Narendra Modi.

There's one sure-shot way to make sure you get attention on social media these days, criticise the BJP government or Narendra Modi. That often ensures preferential treatment by thousands of anonymous trolls whose raison d'etre seems to be to abuse people on the internet.

On a day when rains brought the city of Mumbai to a standstill, Neha Dhupia tweeted: “One rain n the city comes to a standstill. Good governance is not about selfies n makin us do yoga,it's making sure ur citizens r safe,”

This was all the sign that Twitter users, largely anonymous, a group that pop-culture expert Chetan Bhagat christened bhakts or FACIM (Frustrated And Complex-ridden Indian Males), attacked her for being a woman, for supporting AAP, for campaigning for a Congress candidate and for doing films. To be fair, her view wasn't that different from how we felt while commuting to work today, wondering how a little rain could bring the entire city to a standstill.

Only a month ago, Shruti Seth and Kavita Krishnan were trolled, for questioning the Prime Minister's #SelfieWithDaughter campaign where men after lovingly clicking pictures with their daughters proceeded to abuse both of them with the vilest words.

Actress Shruti Seth had tweeted “A selfie is not a device to bring about change Mr. PM. Try reform.” And added the hashtag #selfieobsessedPM for good measure. Activist Kavita Krishnan was more critical as she had called Modi a #LameDuckPM and saying “He has a record of stalking daughters.” Even the nation’s go-to bapuji showed his ‘unsanskari’ side when he tweeted: “Jail the bitch.”

Exactly when did any sort of criticism mean that the person was anti-national? The last time we checked, the Republic of India was a secular democracy, which means that we have the right to choose what we want and what we don’t. We also have the right to criticise the government when we think they aren’t doing something. Surely that doesn’t warrant personal attacks?