it’s so insidious that priyanka chopra can straight up advocate for bombing kashmir and pakistan and label it “patriotism” with her bitchy clap back at a distressed activist trying to hold her accountable and being silenced, and meanwhile shitty uk tabloids be like
the disconnect is unreal. the fundamental lack of understanding of the situation in south asia right now and the way (this brand of) western media is so desperate to maintain the status quo of keeping celebrity culture up on its pedastal that encouraging nuclear warfare against innocent and oppressed civilians, like, doesn’t matter at all
her specific jump from bollywood to hollywood has given her a unique voice and position that a lot of westerners simply do not understand. in india, she’s from the elite. she’s born and bred into the highest class of bollywood royalty, her family history is tied to the military which constantly seeks to go to war against pakistan as well as oppressing the muslim community and other religious minirities in india. her ties to the disgustingly rich ambanis who have made their billions off the backs of poor indians and have terrible business practices, and the prime minister modi who is a staunch hindu nationalist who believes in and has been consistently making moves towards expelling all religious minorities from the country - not exactly woke kween behaviour
relocating to america means all these white people writing think pieces about how hashtag woke it is that this brown woman, from an oppressed minority, is the lead in her own tv show. she’s constantly asked about representation and taking up space in the industry as a brown woman. but that’s all meaningless coming from her - she’s never lived as an oppressed minority in america or anywhere, but it’s allowed her to co opt a #movement of #wokeness that the west loves. it means that her rampant blatant and dangerous islamophobia and imperialism is allowed to go unchecked because there’s no understanding at all of where she comes from and what she stands for in India.
it’s fully our responsibility as desi diaspora to speak out on this to educate fellow westerners, and to uplift the voices of desi activists in the homeland speaking out about what’s happening right now. i know it seems trivial in the face of what’s actually happening in kashmir, but i think perception is everything and in the west if this one singularly famous south asian person trivialises the matter without being called out, it really does shape how people here see the issue
