Dangal star Zaira Waseem was trolled on social media badly this week after she met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on 14 January, a move condemned by most Kashmiris who are otherwise appreciative of Zaira’s hard work and fame.
Kashmiris, who are agitated by the recent unrest in the valley that led to the death of 93 people, were disappointed that the young Kashmiri girl who played the young Geeta Phogat in the hugely successful film Dangal, met the CM who is facing people’s ire for her administrative failures.
Zaira soon published an apology on social networking site Facebook. Her family, in an attempt to put the matter to rest, have refused to offer any comments to journalists queuing up before their house in Srinagar’s Hawal locality.
However, her family members have clarified that though the young movie actor was trolled, she had not received any death threats as had been reported by the national media. Senior officials in the Jammu and Kashmir Police confirmed the same.
“She has not received any threats and we are closely monitoring all the developments. If we feel she needs security, she would be provided the same. She was only trolled on social media,” a senior police officer told The Sunday Guardian.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah accused CM Mufti of trying to appropriate Zaira’s success by publicising her meeting with the young star. He alleged that the CM was desperate to own the success of people like Zaira to divert attention from her own failures in Kashmir.
Civil society groups have come out in support of Zaira while criticising sections in the national media for what they said was an attempt to use this incident to portray Kashmiris as intolerant. “Zaira got all the support from her family, from people to act in the film. But politicians are trying to exploit talented Kashmiris who are making a mark by their own efforts and this has irritated the general public,” one of her neighbours in Hawal told this newspaper.