Known as India's "Desi girl," Priyanka Chopra started her career by starring in small films, eventually reaching large Bollywood screens and superstardom in her country. In addition to being a former Miss World, Chopra is also a singer, has starred in her own American series, and is a UNICEF ambassador. Today, she is married to Nick Jonas, one of the Jonas Brothers, and is estimated to have a net worth of about $28 million.
Priyanka Chopra recently came under fire for a tweet she sent out about India and Pakistan. The two nations have had hostile relations for decades now, ever since the partition in 1947. In February, India sent a fighter jet to bomb a military training camp in Pakistan one week after a Pakistani terrorist group (JeM) claimed responsibility for a terror attack in India. The Indian government justified its action by claiming it was a "pre-emptive action" taken against the terror group, although the bombing seemed like it was aimed at the entire nation and not just JeM.
Right after the bombing, Priyanka Chopra tweeted this:
Jai Hind #IndianArmedForces 🇮🇳 🙏🏽
— PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) February 26, 2019
"Jai Hind" means "Long live India" in Hindi. Although Priyanka Chopra is expected to remain neutral in international conflict as a UNICEF ambassador, many people took this tweet as a sign of Priyanka's support of India's side in a possible war. One of these people was Ayesha Malik, a Pakistani American who, while attending BeautyCon in Los Angeles, overheard Chopra touting herself as a "humanitarian."
Malik tells Chopra, before her microphone was rudely snatched from her by Chopra's bodyguards, "It was kind of hard hearing you talk about humanity because as your neighbor, a Pakistani, I know you are a bit of a hypocrite because you tweeted on February 26, 'Jai Hind [Hail India] #IndianArmedForces.' You are a UNICEF Ambassador for peace and you are encouraging nuclear war against Pakistan. There is no winner in this."
Priyanka Chopra tweeted during a time when we were this 👌🏽 close to sending nukes to one another. Instead of advocating for peace she tweeted in support of the Indian army pic.twitter.com/LhbMkOW59v
— Ayesha Malik (@Spishaa) August 11, 2019
Priyanka Chopra responded to Malik with a smile, and then asked her, "Are you done venting?" She skirted around the question itself, justified her tweet by claiming she was "patriotic" and "not advocating for nuclear war." And to add insult to injury, she ended her rather pathetic speech with, "Girl, don't yell. You're embarrassing yourself."
I think I can speak on behalf of many Indians that Priyanka's initial tweet and her response to Malik's question are embarrassing. Malik spoke what was on the minds of millions of Pakistanis and Indians when Priyanka tweeted in support after a violent bombing. Tensions have been escalating in Kashmir recently, which is the state that falls in both India and Pakistan.
Indian Prime Minister and Hindu nationalist Narender Modi issued a military-led invasion and attack of Kashmir, which has predominantly Muslim residents. Dozens were left injured by the attack.
Chopra's response to Malik was ignorant, entitled, and without empathy, which is something that a UNICEF ambassador should embody. "Patriotism" is defined as a love for your country, not the support of a potential war that could lead to nuclear genocide. Ayesha Malik has garnered both support and criticism for her statement and has reacted to the incident on Twitter, but Chopra is yet to comment. Her wealth and privilege of being a Hindu mean that she has the choice of remaining indifferent in this issue, as the situation does not affect her. India, however, has a history notorious for the oppression and violence against non-Hindus, and whether or not it was done inadvertently, Priyanka Chopra is supporting a potential nuclear war and doesn't deserve her title of a UNICEF ambassador.