Selective outrage is a dangerous potion celebrities should avoid

After George Floyd’s death in the US, people around the world are angry and outraged against the continuous police brutality against black people. There have been protests all around America. Some were peaceful while some were violent. People came out in streets with posters with ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘I can’t breathe’ written over it. Many famous celebrities like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Jamie Foxx, Micheal B Jordan, Hasley, Lady Gaga, Ellen DeGeneres and others have supported the BlackLivesMatter protest.

It is understandable that people from the US are protesting for a huge problem which is eating their country from inside. But there are many Indian celebrities too, who have shown support to the protest. We are not saying that they shouldn’t be supporting the US’s protest, we are just saying if you are showing support for an international cause which has nothing to do with your country then you must raise your voice if there is any incident of similar kind in your own country. Be it mob lynching, casteism, police brutality against students or minority.

There could be two reasons why there is selective outrage among Indian celebrities. One is either they are too afraid to voice their opinion on the internal issues due to backlash they might experience. We saw what happened when Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan opined on increasing intolerance in India. Deepika Padukone got a death threat during the Padmavat row. A regional BJP leader put a bounty of 10 crores on the heads of actress Deepika Padukone and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Swara Bhaskar and Anurag Kashyap are a constant target for trolls.

The other reason could be that they want to look cool by supporting an international cause. They might want to show their fans that they are concerned about what is going on in the international arena (they are informed about things).

The same people who are supporting the cause of black people could be seen in the advertisement of fairness creams. These same people could be seen sharing tips on how to achieve a fair complexion as if not being fair is not normal.

This is not the only recent incident that shows we are a victim of selective outrage. A pregnant elephant recently died in Kerala after she was feed pineapple filled with explosives by some Inhumans. Internet burst with angry and sensitive comments. It is great that people are speaking on social media platforms, after all, social media is to share what you are feeling. But the question is do they get hurt when they themselves hurt animals? Dogs and other street animals are often treated very badly, why don’t they get hurt then? Animals are killed to make products of their body parts, why don’t they get hurt then? When a baby bull calf is separated from his mother, why don’t they have issues then?