Shehla Rashid Shora is a social activist who had served as the Vice-President of JNUSU for the period 2015-2016. She constantly finds herself in the midst of hatred for her strong political stance against the ruling BJP.
It has even gone to the extent of abusing her on every post and issuing rape threats. The pro-right wing BJP supporters call her a hypocrite for calling them Sanghi Goons, in a way justifying the hatred she receives on daily basis.
When it comes to cyber trolling, the right wing cyber army doesn’t spare anyone. Rana Ayyub, Anna Vetticad, Swara Bhasker have received rape threats before. Journalist Sagarika Ghose had been threatened with the rape of her daughter; we can only imagine what the mother would have gone through. The growing dissent against the ruling party has been so strong that Priyanka Chaturvedi, Congress party spokesperson, has received a threat that her daughter would be raped.
This morning, I came across a tweet from Shehla Rashid talking about her struggles with mental health issues, which was quite heartwarming and bold of her to talk about. In India, people don’t normally come forward to talk about it due to the stigma.
Okay, so, I've decided to share a deeply personal story on Twitter, even though I know that Twitter isn't kind at all. But I'm sharing this personal story in public interest, hoping it might reach someone who needs to hear this. (1/n)
— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) September 23, 2018
PMDD is not often acknowledged as an issue, because, well, it concerns women. But if you care about your sister, partner, or friend do raise awareness about PMDD. It's scary how real it can get. You start picking ways and spots to end your life. You start planning it! (3/n)
— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) September 23, 2018
In a world where algorithms will help you end your life if you want to end your life, it's really important to share information about PMDD – premenstrual dysphoric disorder – a severe form of PMS that can even make you suicidal. Knowing it can prevent it. (5/n)
— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) September 23, 2018
If there are women in your friend circle or family whom you care about, don't dismiss PMDD as mood swing. Don't tell her that she's imagining it. It's hormonal. Be supportive. Don't say that "men also get stressed". Women are already supportive and considerate about men's issues.
— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) September 23, 2018
I was shocked to see how a person responded to Rashid’s tweets by saying that she deserves to die. I went through that ‘WTF’ moment. You might disagree with Shehla to a great extent, but it doesn’t mean you go to the extent of wishing death upon her. It says more about you than about her.
This is not the first time. Right-wing groups have targeted several public figures on almost a daily basis. This time it has gone to the worst extent, exposing their ugly face and hatred. We can understand many men can’t take a woman with a strong opinion, but these people should understand that the Mental Health issue is not a joke for you to slander someone for showing allegiance to different strata of the political spectrum.
The person has now deleted the tweet. You can call her a hypocrite, Naxalite, Maoist and whatever fits your vocabulary for taking a stance against the government, but it clearly reveals a lot about you.