Sonam tweeted, “Guys please calm down.. and get a life. Twisting, misinterpreting and understanding what you want from what someone has to say isn’t a reflection on the person who says it but on you. So self reflect and see who you are and hopefully get a job.”
The trolling began after Sonam’s interview to BBC. When asked about Article 370, the actor said, “I think it’s very complicated and I don’t understand it as much because there is so much contrary news everywhere so I don’t really know what the truth is. I believe in having peaceful discourse and understanding what’s going on. So when I have the complete information is when I think I can give an opinion.”
The actor spoke about how her parents had been to Kashmir and decided to name her there. She said, “I am half Sindhi and half Peshawari. It’s heartbreaking to see part of my culture is something that I can’t explore as well because of that.”
In an answer to a question about the situation, she went on to say, “It’s heartbreaking to see where the situation has landed right now and I’m very patriotic. So I think for me now it’s better to keep quiet and let this pass because even this too shall pass. Our country was one country, like, 70 years ago and the fact that there is so much divisive politics at play is really heartbreaking.”
She had also talked about Pakistan banning Bollywood films. Recalling how her film, Neerja was not shown in Pakistan because the plane that hijacked had landed in Karachi,” she said, adding, “As an artist you want to be represented everywhere and you want your work to be shown everywhere. The film in anyway did not show Pakistan in a negative light at all but the fact that they didn’t show the film in Pakistan was heartbreaking for me. I have huge Pakistani following and my two best films -- they are Muslims and half Pakistani.”
Many viewers criticised her claiming to have a connect with Pakistan. She also faced criticism for supporting Pakistani artistes (she starred opposite actor Fawad Khan in Khoobsurat). A few even asked her to “shift to Pakistan” and accused her of only “worrying for her stardom fans and money.”
Many slammed the actor for speaking on the issue despite accepting that she has little knowledge about it. A user said on Twitter, “How much one can talk when they themselves are admitting that they do not know the facts and history behind it ?!!” Another said, “How can one speak so confidently on the topics they know nothing about?”