Celebrity television host Padma Lakshmi took to Twitter to urge people not to pay heed to propaganda and fearmongering.
In a series of tweets, well-known author, model, activist, and television host Padma Lakshmi has denounced the “widespread anti-Muslim rhetoric” seen in parts of India during recent Hindu festivals and celebrations.
“Sickening to see the violence against Muslims celebrated in India,” she wrote. “The widespread anti-Muslim rhetoric preys on fear and poisons people. This propaganda is dangerous and nefarious because it’s much easier to participate in their oppression.”
She appealed to Hindus to shun this hatred and called on them to live peacefully together.
“Fellow Hindus, don’t succumb to this fearmongering. There is no threat to Hinduism in India or anywhere else. True spirituality doesn’t include any room for sowing hatred of any kind. People of all faiths should be able to live peacefully together in this ancient, vast land.”
Padma Lakshmi was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and emigrated to the USA when she was four. She attended Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA and her modelling career was launched when she was discovered by a photographer when she was doing her senior year in Spain. She has published six books so far and has received a Primetime Emmy nomination for her work hosting cooking shows on television.
The 51-year-old television host and ex-wife of Salman Rushdie posted articles from international publications like The Guardian and Los Angeles Times on Twitter and asked everyone to read more on the situation in India.
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Violence erupted in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone and Jahangirpuri in Delhi after Hindu mobs brandishing swords, guns and sticks marched through Muslim neighbourhoods and congregated outside mosques. Violence was also reported in Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Bihar. Earlier this week, more than a hundred ex-bureaucrats wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to call for an end to ‘politics of hate’.
“Your silence, in the face of this enormous societal threat, is deafening,” they wrote in the letter. The Prime Minister has not condemned the violence nor provided solace to the victims so far.
