Kangana Ranaut takes dig at K'taka woman IPS officer

MUMBAI: After innocuous posts on social media by Karnataka IPS officer D. Roopa Moudgil, supporting the governments decision to impose ban on firecrackers during Diwali, led to a war of words with a right-wing Twitter handle, Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut has stepped in support of the handle.

In her series of tweets in support of the twitter handle 'True Indology' (now suspended by Twitter), Ranut said that police officers like her were shame in the name of the force. "She should be suspended from the force," her tweet read.

Coming down heavily on Roopa's comments, Ranaut wrote in her Twitter handle @KanganaTeam that the "government appoints people like Roopa to protect the fundamental rights of commoners, but look at her obnoxious ignorance like sore loser, she became so vengeful that if she couldn't win the argument with facts, she simply got @TIinExile (True Indolgy) eliminated. Shame on you @D_Roopa_IPS".

The Bollywood actor's series of tweets against Roopa comes in the backdrop of a spat between Roopa and a popular Twitter handle, True Indology, over the origin of firecrackers and whether they were used in ancient India. This began after several state governments, including Karnataka, imposed a ban on bursting crackers during Diwali.

In a tweet on November 14, Roopa had shared her Facebook post stating that bursting firecrackers was not part of the Hindu tradition as there was no mention of it in the religious scriptures or the epics.

This statement was contested by True Indology, which in turn "accepted the challenge" and cited texts to prove the point but failed to convince the IPS officer.

As the arguments between the two went on, Roopa first blocked True Indology, then Twitter suspended the handle. The reason for the account's suspension was not stated.

"Side effects of reservations, when unworthy and undeserving gets the power they don't heal they only hurt, I don't know anything about her personal life but I guarantee that her frustration is stemming out of her incompetence," Ranaut tweeted, adding that Roopa should be suspended, as such cops were a shame in the name of police force.

"We can't let her get her evil ways #BringBackTrueIndology," Ranaut appealed in her tweet as she launched the hashtag campaign #BringBackTrueIndology and #ShameOnYouIPSRoopa.

In a series of tweets, the actor slammed the police officer for being "vengeful" and indulging in the spat during her working hours.

Not stopping at this, Ranaut also questioned Twitter and its chief executive, Jack Dorsey, over the account's suspension and sought action against the social media site tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office.

"@jack @Twitter @TwitterIndia your bias and Islamist's propaganda is embarrassing, why did you suspend @TIinExile? Because he busted fake narratives of our history? Shame on you, waiting for the day when you will be banned in India, hope @PMOIndia takes action against twitter," she tweeted.

Meanwhile, observing the three-day long debate, senior Congress leader and noted lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi tweeted, "Doesn't befit IPS officers of the country to be arguing with anonymous Twitter Handles that too during working hours. Make a point, let it go, you aren't winning anything by arguing on SM!"

Despite being trolled, Roopa stood her ground by asserting on Twitter without tagging anyone that "for all those fathoming my silence, well, there's life beyond twitter, the real world, with real job, real responsibilities".

"U may troll me, abuse me, accuse me,for u have ample time to do just that,but can't take away my conviction & commitment to duty & Law of the land. Jai Hind Flag of India," she tweeted.

It is worth noting that, after several states banned bursting of firecrackers during Diwali, Roopa had tweeted that "ban on crackers in Bengaluru is for this year alone, given COVID situation. Why can't for one year we abstain ourselves from the use of crackers? Are we so hollow that our joy is dependent solely on crackers? There are many ways to celebrate Deepavali. Light diyas, meet people, exchange mithai...but no, adamant people only want crackers. How unreasonable!"

Many users agreed with her statement, posting several positive comments in reply to her post. But as she shared the same post on Twitter, several netizens said she should question the customs of other religions as well.