Farhan Akhtar Trolled For Diwali Puja: Has Intolerance Taken Over Joy Of Festivals?

Farhan Akhtar trolled: Diwali may be over but the festive mood, far from it. That 2021 is at its tail-end is reason enough to sustain the holiday vibe that will carry us through the two remaining months. This year has been difficult, to put it mildly, with India emerging battered but breathing from a brutal second wave of COVID-19 that took lives, leaving grief in its wake. It did not help that this state of unrest came paired with an ever-burgeoning sentiment of religious intolerance that seems is now here to stay.

For those plugged into social media, reading and hearing of incidents that involve one religious community pulling another apart over even the most minor differences of opinion or faiths is not uncommon. In fact, it is almost a daily occurrence. Around Diwali - a Hindu festival that invokes unity by being celebrated across cultures - this phenomenon received a boost.

Farhan Akhtar, son of film industry stalwarts Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, shared a snap from a puja he partook in two days ago. The photo also featured Akhtar's partner Shibani Dandekar, on whose forehead he is seen applying teeka, and his business partner and friend Ritesh Sidhwani. "हैपी दिवाली। 😊" his caption read.

Communal outbursts in the comments section of that picture.

"When you realise your ancestors were hindu!" one Instagram user wrote. "Muslim log bhi aeise karte hai kiya😢bas naam ka musalman hai," wrote another. "Ghar waapsi pakki samjhe? Happy Diwali," one said. "Lannat ho tum per bhai naam change kerlo naam ka touheeen na kero," another user said.

It seems almost futile to raise this objection, given the persistently charged atmosphere of hostility, but why do we let our religious biases get the better of us and the joy surrounding festivals? In these moments of celebration, what prevents us from practicing inter-religious peace? Have we begun seeing rituals as sites of religious grandstanding?

Recently, even actor Sara Ali Khan was similarly trolled for a visit she made to Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand. Many raised questions over her religious beliefs and what a woman with a Muslim surname was doing at a Hindu temple. Read more here.

Not just her, but any public personality with interfaith links is routinely subjected to harsh remarks from the online community. Kareena Kapoor Khan, by marrying Saif Ali Khan and giving her children names that the entire country did not approve of, has earned herself a permanent place at the eye of the communal "love jihad" storm.

But being personalities of privilege, especially those well-loved as equally by many as they are criticised by some, has its perks. An Akhtar or a Kapoor Khan may face communal hate regularly but the fanfare that envelops them at all times, given their celebrity, shields them from falling out of immediate disfavour. Or suffering consequences for their religious backgrounds.

Does the common Indian citizen have this guarantee?

More than once, this Navratri season in October, religious segregation was stoked at garba events. Essentially seen as evenings of merrymaking, garba galas in Madhya Pradesh turned sour when Muslim youth were arrested for partaking in the dance on the allegation that they were causing "public nuisance." Over in Gujarat, another disturbing incident unfolded as women from the Scheduled Caste were allegedly stopped from dancing garba. Read here.

This toxicity seeps in even when the country indulges in its favourite religion: cricket. Recently, captain Virat Kohli stood in support of his teammate Mohammed Shami who was abused following the team's T20 loss against Pakistan, saying it was "most pathetic" to attack someone over their religion. However, his tirade against bigotry was met with rape threats for his nine-month-old daughter.

This aura of intolerance in our country that justifies taking offence at any performance of amity is only gaining precedence. Isn't it time we nip it before it pollutes our senses beyond recognition?

Views expressed are the author's own.

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