New Delhi, June 29: A rights activist and a television actress have been trolled on Twitter for panning the "selfie with daughter" initiative that Narendra Modi praised and promoted on Mann ki Baat.
During his monthly radio talk yesterday, Modi had termed a Haryana sarpanch's idea urging fathers to click selfies with their daughters and tweet them as a "great" one and sought to use it to push the Prime Minister's beti padhao, beti bachao scheme.
"I request you all to upload selfie with daughter with hashtag #selfiewithdaughter with a meaningful message and I will retweet those pictures that are the most inspiring... we all are working towards turning this into a public revolution... in this way, we will preserve the dignity, pride of daughters..." Modi said.
Within minutes of the address, Twitterers began uploading selfies but TV actress Shruti Seth and rights activist Kavita Krishnan questioned the logic behind the initiative.
"A selfie is not a device to bring about change Mr PM. Try reform," Seth tweeted with the hashtag #selfieobsessedPM.
Soon after, the actress was slammed in every which way, as a "failed movie star", " nautanki (drama queen)" and more. Even her father was not spared.
Hours later, Seth tweeted: "Those defending the #selfie plan by the PM FYI change is needed in the illiterate parts where 'no front facing camera phones exist'. Think."
This drew accusations that she was trying to insult the Prime Minister. "Such ppl r not women. But an insult to glorious name of women," tweeted Pandit Ram Joshi, a Varanasi-based astrologer.
" Do kaudi ki nautanki @SethShruti jo khud ek photo ke alawa kuch nahi hai wo @PMOIndia ko selfie se uppar jaane ke liye kah rahi hai... (You are worth two cents, you are nothing more than a photo and you dare to ask the PMO to go beyond selfie)," tweeted Noida based Amit under the handle silent_budhha.
Rights activist Krishnan, the other woman who came under fire, provoked Twitterers when she posted: "#SelfieWithDaughter with #LameDuckPM. He has a record of stalking daughters." The reference was to a row on surveillance being ordered on a lady architect when Amit Shah was Gujarat home minister.
This drew a response from actor Alok Nath, who had posted a selfie of himself and his daughter soon after Modi's speech. "@Babu_Bhaiyaa @kavita_krishnan no boss, this once she's crossed the line and limit," he tweeted, tagging actor Paresh Rawal.
Rawal, the BJP MP from Ahmedabad East, tweeted soon after: "Hehe.. sir she needs benedictions & blessing of a great soul.... Waiting for @narendramodi to say that breathing is good... so that sm ppl can oppose that & stop breathing... pblm solve."
To this, Alok Nath replied: "No boss, this once she's crossed the line and limit." Later, he said: "Jail the b****."
This fuelled more name-calling but Krishnan was unfazed. She tweeted: "#Snoopgate - Was phone tap, surveillance on woman by Amit Shah, cops at Modi's behest legal or illegal?"
Modi has remained silent.
