While social media and allied open virtual platforms have brought the world together, it does on the other hand often become an instrument of venting out untamed, uncontrolled, and unnecessary hatred, especially in the case of such sportspersons on whom lies the alleged baggage of pseudo nationalist portrayal.
‘Cricket flows in the veins of Indians, it is not merely a sport but religion’, the religion that is at one point revered with the utmost diligence and the players are seen no less than holy deities takes not even a second to transform itself into an institutionalized mechanism of harassment. Diyas exchange for burning man dolls, praises transform into abuses and the flag bearers of 1.3 billion individuals’ patriotic appeal are simply labelled as ‘anti-nationals’.
‘9 months-old Vamika Kohli, daughter of Bollywood fame Anushka Sharma and the Indian men’s cricket team captain Virat Kohli receives rape threats on Twitter.’ This is what the newspapers’ headlines read these days. There can be no potential explanation of the thought process that gives birth to the statements and intentions of these kinds.
On Tuesday, 2 November, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) issued a notice to the Delhi Police Cyber Crime cell explicitly mentioning the virtual rape threats addressed to the nine-month-old daughter of Indian men’s cricket team captain Virat Kohli and actress Anushka Sharma, on Twitter.
@Criccrazyygirl happens to be the handle of the user who posted the said abhorrent tweet. But, by November 1st the account stood deleted. While the person behind this highly questionable deed is yet to be discovered, the Delhi Commission for Women has asked the authorities to launch an FIR and track down the alleged criminal.
The apparent bedrock of the anger that provided an impetus to tweet is being traced from the defeat of the Indian cricket team in the hands of Pakistan during the previous match.
Moreover, Captain Virat Kohli and his immediate family is being brutally targeted and trolled all across the online platforms largely because he outrightly came in support of his very teammate Md. Shami, who was being very harshly criticized for being instrumental in India’s defeat, mainly by the virtue of his ‘different religion. The highly practical and ‘religious’ cricket heads took no time to blame Shami’s religion as the reason behind India’s defeat against Pakistan. Thus, when Captain Kohli came in his support, he was additionally labelled as ‘anti-national’ and when this was not judged sufficient, trollers took it out against his infant daughter.
However, this, unfortunately, is not the first instance where ‘cricket heads’ have shown their devotion and thereby misogyny. Last year, in the due course of the Indian Premier League, Chennai Super Kings failed to secure a victory against Kolkata Knight Riders which resulted in a truckload of trolls against Mahendra Singh Dhoni including rape threats addressed to his daughter, Ziva Dhoni. The threats allegedly appeared on Dhoni and his wife Sakshi’s Instagram accounts.
We often come across such statements where the sportspersons and their family are humiliated for humour through memes and jokes and these do not suffice, threats take their space, again revealing the toxic profile of our societal setup. In the quest of becoming an ardent devotee of any sport and activity, we often become ignorant of the fact that the sportspersons or celebrities for that matter are much more than their profession. Thus loving them to the core doesn’t qualify as a boarding pass to catch the flight of harassment and thereby issue threats.
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