At a public event on August 10 in the US, Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra was accused by a woman of promoting war between India and Pakistan. The exchange took place at Beautycon Los Angeles.
The woman, who identified herself as Ayesha Malik on Twitter, called Chopra a hypocrite, pointing to her tweet from February 26 after India reported that it had conducted airstrikes in Pakistan’s Balakot area.
“You are a United Nations ambassador for peace, and you are encouraging nuclear war against Pakistan. There is no winner in this,” Malik – who stated in her question that she is a “Pakistani” – said before the microphone was taken away from her.
“War is not something that I am really fond of but I am patriotic. I am sorry if I have hurt sentiments (of) people who do love me and have loved me but I think all of us have a sort of middle ground that we all have to walk,” Chopra said in response to Malik’s question. “Don’t yell, don’t embarrass yourself. We are all here for love,” the actor added. The audience broke into applause after the answer even though she did not explicitly deny that she had encouraged the possibility of a war.
Malik explained her side of the story later on Twitter.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!