Actor Sahiba Bali faces online abuse over post on 'worship Durga, punish women'

Actor and content creator Sahiba Bali has shared screenshots of abusive comments and threats she received after reposting a message about society’s double standards towards women. The post drew a parallel between the worship of Goddess Durga and the crackdown on women protesters during the protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.The message highlighted the irony of celebrating a goddess for her strength and fury while suppressing women who express anger, resist injustice and demand their rights. It questioned why society reveres feminine strength in religion but often struggles to accept it in real life.Following the repost, Sahiba faced online backlash, with some users sending her abusive messages repeatedly. She shared screenshots of the comments, including messages from people who appeared to be spamming her with the same abuse.In a note, Sahiba expressed exhaustion over the hostility she had faced, and the risks associated with speaking out. "I heard a lot this year. For absolutely no reason. I don't support hatred of any kind. There might be narratives made which are manufactured - I address differences with compassion & not divide. I hope they can too. There's too much hate in this world. The cost of voicing injustice is danger to livelihood & safety. I honestly, am done. They won, I Iost. I'm sorry," she wrote.Sahiba Bali on political views, religion and online hateIn another post, Sahiba addressed the criticism she receives for expressing her views on politics and religion. She said that both speaking up and remaining silent seemed to invite abuse. “Jaatein jaatein yeh bata doon: Kuch Kahoon, toh gaali. Kuch naa bolun, toh gaali. Govt ke khilaaf dissent toh gaali. Govt ko praise, toh gaali,” she wrote.Sahiba clarified that she is not a BJP supporter, although former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is her favourite politician. She described Congress as a weak Opposition but praised former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his contribution to India's economy around 1991.She also said she respects the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice of India but does not support the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). While she had supported the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, she said her voting decision would be her own.“My vote will decide that, not the abuses or fear from strangers,” she wrote.Sahiba also stressed that Indian Muslims should not be treated as outsiders, saying they are as Indian as anyone else. She spoke about her own religious beliefs, mentioning that she wears a rudraksh for protection and visits a gurudwara to express gratitude.She added that she does not hate anyone except criminals and believes rapists deserve capital punishment. She also shared her views on the Cockraoch Janta Party (CJP), describing it as a pressure group, before ending the post with a lighter observation that Delhi's food is better than Mumbai's.Here's the post that Sahiba shared on her Instagram Stories that received backlash:Sahiba Bali's cryptic post on social media algorithmsA day before sharing her note about online abuse, Sahiba had posted a cryptic message about the widespread availability of information and people's tendency to believe what supports their existing views.“We are living in the most information-rich era in human history. Knowledge is everywhere, most of it free. And yet, somehow, people have never been this confidently ignorant. We have unlimited access to information, but an alarming number of people use it only to find evidence for what they already want to believe,” the post read.The caption accompanying it said, “Our algo will always show you what you want to see.”Her posts come amid the backlash she says she has faced online, bringing attention to the hostility women can encounter when they speak about gender, injustice and other contentious issues.Meanwhile, Sahiba Bali is a popular content creator and has also worked in films like Laila Majnu, Amar Singh Chamkila and Dear Maya.- Ends