Kareena Kapoor trolled for ‘marrying a Muslim’ as Indian star demands justice for Asifa Bano

Photo: Film stars Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan at their registry marriage ceremony, Credit: Bollywood Hungama/Wikimedia

Bollywood superstar Kareena Kapoor  is once again being trolled on the social media for her marriage to a Muslim actor after she demanded justice for an eight-year-girl raped and murdered in a temple in the Kashmir region.

But Kareena, herself an assertive figure and one of the highest-paid actresses, found strong support from actress Swara Bhasker, as both campaigned for justice for Asifa Bano, who was gang raped in a temple in Kathua.

Indian human rights activists and several public figures have been demanding justice for Asifa Bano while others including alleged perpetrators of the crime, termed by te Unite Nations as “horrific”.  On the other side, supporters of alleged perpetrators of the crime including some representatives of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatya Janta Party reject the allegations and have demonstrated against legal proceedings, giving the murder a communal issue between Hindus and Muslims.

In Bollywood, a number of actors have joined calls for justice for Asifa Bano.

Swara, who co-stars with Kareena in the upcoming film Veere Di Wedding, posted a  photograph of Kareena on Twitter that shows Kareena displaying a message for justice the murdered girl.

As reported in the Indian newspapers, a social media user reacted to Kareena’s message with a vitriol:

“She should be ashamed of the fact that despite being a Hindu is married to a Muslim. Has a child with him and named him Taimur, after a brutal Islamic barbarian.”

That drew a scathing reply from Swara:

“You should be ashamed you exist. That God gave you a brain which you chose to fill with hate and a mouth you chose to spew filth from. You are a shame on India and Hindus. That sh*ts like you feel emboldened to talk this crap publicly is this government’s legacy.”

Swara, an outspoken figure, also took a swipe at an Indian author for diatribe against Bollywood stars who have called for “banning rape.”

Bhaavna Arora, the author, expressed his views in a tweet:

“What’s with these Bollywood celebs writing ‘ban rape’ on placards? As if rape is legal. These dimwits need to get their heads out of their asses.”

Swara shot back:

“I didn’t see any placards saying ban rape…but then when LAWMAKERS attend pro-rape rallies is it so weird that citizens have to call for rape to be banned? Since our lawmakers seem to have no idea what is legal and illegal…human & inhuman.”

Swara threw another punch:

“Love how Bollywood celebs get equally criticized for their silence as well as when they speak up. Guess some people just gotta hate. Also Bhaavnaa why don’t u get ur smug head out of the gutter of social media trolling and unequivocally condemn the barbaric acts in Kathua & Unnao?”

Asifa Bano’s case has received international attention with major American newspapers including The New York Times and The Washington Post also detailing horrible accounts of gang rape and murder of the girl made public last week. Asifa’s nomadic family was in Jammu part of the region, when the girl disappeared in January and court details say she was drugged and raped for days before she was murdered and thrown in a forest.