 "Swara Bhasker responds to fake Veere Di Wedding tweets: 'Looks like a certain IT cell sponsored the tickets'")
Apart from a goldmine of memes and jokes, Twitter has become a cesspool of fake information, harmful trends, and sees a constant barrage of hateful content and vile threats being passed around on a regular basis. That’s what happened with _Veere Di Wedding_ . In the aftermath of the Kathua rape case , actress Swara Bhasker posted an image of herself on Twitter with a placard that read, ‘I am Hindustan. I am ashamed’. This was followed by celebrities like Kalki Koechlin, Huma Qureshi, Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Alia Bhatt, Sanjay Dutt, Anushka Sharma, Parineeti Chopra, Sidharth Malhotra, and Aditi Rao Hydari tweeting about the incident and expressing their shock.
I am Hindustan. I am Ashamed. #JusticeForOurChild #JusticeForAasifa
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) April 13, 2018
8 years old. Gangraped. Murdered.
In ‘Devi’-sthaan temple. #Kathua and lest we forget #unnao Shame on us! #BreakTheSilence #EndTheComplicity #ActNow pic.twitter.com/O8rABOrZq9
Subsequently, what really irked some people was the placard held by Swara Bhasker with the words ‘I am Hindustan. I am ashamed’ on it. After Swara, the same placard was held by other Veere Di Wedding actors, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Sonam Kapoor.
#KareenaKapoorKhan #IndiaAgainstRape #JusticeForOurChild #JusticeforAsifa #JusticeForUnnao pic.twitter.com/NEqPsArNC6
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) April 14, 2018
I am Hindustan. I am Ashamed. #JusticeForOurChild
— Sonam K Ahuja (@sonamakapoor) April 13, 2018
8 years old. Gangraped. Murdered.
In ‘Devi’-sthaan temple. #Kathua pic.twitter.com/8SIR9hYswI
The people holding the placard were accused of disrespecting Hindus and Indians, and here began a new campaign: boycott Veere Di Wedding. This first started with a tweet on 16 April by user Shefali Vaidya who asked people to not watch movies of ‘B grade actresses’ who held the aforementioned placard.
Dear Hindus, if you have any self respect or dignity left, PLEASE do not watch any movie that stars @ReallySwara, Kareena Kapoor, @humasqureshi Kalki Koechlin, Sonam Kapoor and all other placard wala B grade actresses. Hit them where it hurts.
— Shefali Vaidya. 🇮🇳 (@ShefVaidya) April 16, 2018
The same was repeated by twitter user Shefali Vaidya on 27 May; this time with #BoycottVeereDiWedding.
Less than a week to go. #BoycottVeereDiWedding. Remember, @ReallySwara Kareena Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor insulted ALL Hindus and ‘Hindusthan’ and NOT one of them apologised even when valid questions were raised and the truth of #Kathua came out. https://t.co/bDfkCAZyZu
— Shefali Vaidya. 🇮🇳 (@ShefVaidya) May 27, 2018
Now, after the release of the movie, many users took to Twitter to display its magic of fake information. Tweets about going to the theater to watch Veere Di Wedding started to appear on different threads by various handles.
For some inexplicable reason, there seems to be a tremendous demand for Veere Di Wedding among Indian grandmothers, regardless of their alleged, consistent (word-to-word consistent!) opinion after the film. pic.twitter.com/VCn1wroHlf
— Karthik 🇮🇳 (@beastoftraal) June 2, 2018
For some weird reasons, people who cant spell “Masturbation” are going to watch #VeereDiWedding with their Grandmothers and want answers from @ReallySwara pic.twitter.com/CAB1ab5b4O
— Joy (@Joydas) June 2, 2018
The exact tweet read, ‘Hey @ReallySwara just watched #VeereDiWedding with my grandmother. We got embarrassed when that masturabation scene came on screen. as we came out of the theater my grandmother said, " I’m hindustan and i am ashamed of #VeereDiWedding’. Suddenly, there was a flood of ashamed Hindustani grand-moms watching Veere Di Wedding. Every grandmother seemed to have the same complain; they hated Veere Di Wedding because of the “masturabation” scene. Soon, someone picked up on the fake information of non-existent grandmothers, and Twitter couldn’t stop talking about it.
All grandmother's just supremely upset because they discovered after 60 years that masterbation was an option #VeereDiWedding
— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) June 3, 2018
Why are so many sanskari people watching #VeereDiWedding with their grandmothers?
— Rahul Pandita (@rahulpandita) June 2, 2018
Protip: Don't watch #VeereDiWedding with your grandmother. Especially the fictional grandmother.
— Aisi Taisi Democracy (@AisiTaisiDemo) June 3, 2018
Swara, too, responded to this barrage of tweets:
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Looks like a certain IT cell sponsored the tickets- or definitely the tweets !!!! 🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️😆😆😆😆 https://t.co/KIUqMoOLRG
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) June 2, 2018
This is not the first time Twitter users have gone into an overdrive of copy/pasting tweets to discredit a product/person or to spread fake information. In the past, it has been reported on how concentrated efforts have been made to drag down the reviews of books and applications on websites like Amazon. Be it Barkha Dutt’s This Unquiet Land: Stories from India’s Fault Lines, Gujarat Files by Rana Ayyub, I am a Troll by Swati Chaturvedi or Indira – India’s Most Powerful Prime Minister by Sagarika Ghose; the ratings of all these books were reportedly manipulated and sabotaged online. Similarly, Aamir Khan’s 2014’s super-hit PK was also made a target with #BoycottPK.
#BoycottPK where Indian girl falls in love with a nice Pakistani boy, mocking all those ‘silly Hindu fanatics’ who harp about #LOVE JIHAD,
— François Gautier (@fgautier26) December 20, 2014
#boycottPK, where the heroin shows her finger online at the 'bad' Hindu Guru, while her 'good' pakistani boyfriend comes t sit next t her
— François Gautier (@fgautier26) December 21, 2014
#BoycottPK Hindus sentiments hurt. Seculars say be broad minded. Will they say the same when Muslims sentiments are hurt?#JustAsking."
— Asmakhan Pathan (@PathanAsmakhan) January 2, 2015
Shah Rukh Khan’s 2015 release Dilwale met with similar fate in the run-up to its release.
Coward Srk now feeling the heat in winter season, now Shahrukh know the real meaning of intolerance.#BoycottDilwale pic.twitter.com/XIi9QqYBDo
— Dheeraj Jaiswal (@DheerajGbc) December 18, 2015
Shameful that Dilwale made it so far.#BoycottDilwale #dilwaleboycott@YesIamSaffron @ShivshankarS @Kalki_Avataram pic.twitter.com/KlBZOHMi8C
— Appayya Ramarao (@AppayyaRamarao) December 19, 2015
#BoycottDilwale shdnt be made out to be abt some flood relief issue. He accused this Hindu
— स्वयंसेवक (@iChetanGupta) December 20, 2015
nation of intolerance to cover up Islamic terror
So did Aamir Khan’s Dangal .
Man standing with terrorist can't be my idol or hero.
— Ishan Khan♨ (@imIshwan) December 23, 2016
We can't even spare who called my mother intolerant.
Share my msg#BoycottDangal pic.twitter.com/9qpbiszOT3
This is SheerBetrayal & Sprinkling Salt on Wounds of Millions of Supporters Who Stood By BJP,When Country Became Intolerant #BoycottDangal pic.twitter.com/esjJnZW9MF
— Jay® (@SaffronJay) December 27, 2016
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