A farcical performance of sympathy
When 26 tourists were killed on April 22 in the Baisaran Valley, Pahalgam, Kashmir, a photograph of a newlywed — and newly-widowed — woman sitting on the ground beside her slain husband was circulated widely. The image was even run through the AI Studio Ghibli filter by official online handles of the BJP. The deceased was Navy officer Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, and he was on honeymoon with Himanshi Narwal. Himanshi Narwal was initially held up by many as a symbol of collective grief over an unprovoked attack on civilians.
But once Narwal stepped out of the frame of that picture onto which so much had been projected, and emerged as a real person with reasonable opinions, she was vilified. While expressing the desire for justice and for prayers for her late husband, she told the press: 'I see hatred growing, directed at Muslims and Kashmiris. We do not want this. We only wish for peace — nothing else.'
Narwal's statement should have been nothing but an ordinary comment, a reminder of ethical, Constitutional, basic values. Instead, a flare-up of online trolling has been unleashed against her. The same handles that made a puppet or a prop of her have turned on her. Old social media posts have been dug up to slut-shame her. People who claim they knew her in college have made risqué posts about her past, sowing lewd rumours. Others suggest that she is happy her husband has died, and that she will enjoy his pension. She has deleted her social media accounts.
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