Priyanka Chopra Jones uploaded an Instagram post on May 29, 2020, for the Black Lives Matter movement with the photo “I Can’t Breathe.” Netizens and people from the Indian showbusiness then accused the actress of selective outrage. Their frustration is not due to her decision to support Black Lives Matter but that she had not highlighted on issues closer to home. Abhay Deol, a Bollywood actor uploaded a photo on Instagram with words “Migrant lives matter, poor lives matter, minority lives matter.”
He captioned the post with, “Maybe it’s time for these now? Now that ‘woke’ Indian celebrities and the middle class stand in solidarity with fighting systemic racism in America, perhaps they’d see how it manifests in their own backyard?” In the past, Chopra Jones has been the face for fairness creams and netizens call the actress a hypocrite. A netizen reminded her of her commercial for Garnier skin whitening cream.
Another netizen who was responding to her husband Nick Jonas’ joint message said: “Was Pri’s ‘heart heavy’ before or after she promoted skin lightening creams? Was it ‘heavy’ when she watched Muslims get lynched in her own country & said nothing?” Kangana Ranaut, a Bollywood actress and director shared with BBC about the selective solidarity of Indian celebrities.
She talked about the time when two Indian monks were lynched by a mob. She continued, “There was not a word from anyone… When you politicize your compassion, your activism, your humanity, of course you are part of the problem. Because people who inflict pain on others too have a set of people they are kind to. The problem is selective compassion.”
After Chopra Jonas’ Instagram post, memes started appearing online from her movie Fashion. The photos are from a scene where her character wakes up next to a coloured man after a night of partying and she is shocked. It may seem that she regretted sleeping with a stranger but the camera showed that it may be because of his skin colour. /TISG