Indian cricket team pacer Mohammed Shami drew the ire of religious fanatics on the weekend as he had posted a picture along with his wife on Facebook. While it was a simple gesture of affection by Shami, the issue spiraled out of proportion when these fanatics took it upon themselves to shame Shami for having ‘insulted his religion’.
It all started when Shami, a Muslim, posted this picture with his wife Hasin Jahan –
Soon, all sorts of unwanted comments would come up and make the matter rather unsavoury –
In large, people were not happy that Shami did not ‘cover his wife properly’, bringing the issue of Purdah of Muslim women into the limelight. People posted comments like, “sharam karo sar aap ek muslim ho bibi ko parde me rakho” (Be ashamed Sir, you’re a Muslim and you should keep your wife behind purdah).
Perhaps, more importantly, it was another example of the sexual harassment that celebrities face on social media.
A couple of months ago, Sportskeeda had uncovered a dirty ‘underbelly’ that exists on social media – one that exists with a sole purpose – to objectify women. From ace shuttler Jwala Gutta to tennis sensation Sania Mirza, the athletes are subject to all kinds of unwarranted abuse on a daily basis.
The reaction to Mohammed Shami’s picture was shocking, almost unimaginable and the matter was soon ‘trending’ on social media. Trolls had a field day as they indulged in teaching the cricketer on where he went wrong.
At these times, one must feel the pain of being a celebrity. While they might want to explode and face the matter head on, they have to deal with the consequences of being a public figure and weigh the consequences on their family and loved ones.
After letting the matter settle, Shami took to Twitter to say exactly what he felt about the issue –
In his first tweet he posted a message saying ‘not everyone gets what they want in life, and there are just a select few who are lucky enough to do so’ before signing off with a clever message to the trolls out there who shamed him for over 24 hours.
It would serve as a precursor to his next tweet –
He has minced no words here as he says that they are members of his family and he knows what he must do and what he must not. One must look within themselves to see how good one is. His strong message was to silence the trolls that had been tormenting his family.
Thankfully, people responded to his tweets in a positive manner and offered their support –
Some people did not understand the subtle message Shami left them with the first Tweet. Just for clarification –
Shami certainly handled the issue well. Let’s hope this is the last we hear of this.
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