© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
If you were hopeful that the new year would be any different from the last, then you may have another think coming. Last month, the Indian Twitterverse was full of hate speech and religious fanatics trolling celebrities for often absolutely inane things. First it was tearing apart the name of Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan’s newborn son Taimur because of a historical figure, and then it was trolling cricketer Mohammed Shami for sharing a picture of his wife wearing a gown.
Naysayers on both counts had little support when it came to having logic on their side, nevertheless, social media platforms buzzed with debates between orthodox fundamentalists and those who feel everyone has a right to live their lives on their own terms. Now, on the last day of the year, yet another cricketer was trolled and this time it was for sharing photos of himself doing the Surya Namaskar.
Yes, that also happened!
Mohammad Kaif shared four photos of himself doing the Surya Namaskar, a Yoga pose that is known to be an excellent series of exercises to maintain fitness levels, early December 31 morning. “Surya Namaskar is a complete workout fr the physical system,a comprehensive exercise form without any need fr equipment. #KaifKeFitnessFunde”, he tweeted.
One wouldn’t find anything wrong with this, save for the fact that Kaif was then trolled by both Islamic and Hindu fanatics. Ironically, the objection raised by both sections were fairly similar – why is a ‘Muslim’ doing a ‘Hindu Yoga’!
ALSO SEE | Step-by-step breakdown and health benefits of the Surya Namaskar
“Surya namashkar is adverse our culture society and traditions of islam.why are you posting a controversial statement”, tweeted one fundamentalist, while another said, “As most of dem said #SuryaNamaskar hs evrythng to do with hindusim.If any non-hindu will do it,it wont benefit his mind & body”!
Thankfully there were those who supported Kaif’s right to do whatever Yoga he wanted.
https://twitter.com/sunilddutta/status/815090585279156225
https://twitter.com/KhanSaahb/status/815452046446866432
Soonafter, Kaif came with a befitting reply to all his trolls. “In all 4pics,I had Allah in my heart. Cant understand what doing any exercise, Surya Namaskar or Gym has to do with religion.It benefits ALL”, he tweeted.
We think that pretty much sums it up, don’t you?
