Less than a fortnight ago, the Pulwama attack claimed the lives of over 40 Indian Soldiers. Among the soldiers who passed away in the attack was Babloo Santra who hailed from Howrah, West Bengal.
As tension between India and Pakistan escalated recently, his grieving widow, Mita Santra, took a ‘war cannot solve every problem’ stance.
Explaining the reason why she is against war, she told The Times of India that every death in the battlefield ultimately leaves numerous in the soldiers’ families devastated.
Mita is a history teacher and she is well aware of the fact that war cannot bring any permanent solution.
But her opinion didn’t go down well with the people across social media, who criticized her for her opinion.
She has been trolled on various websites and social media platforms and shamed up for being ‘cowardly and self-centred’.
Despite the lash back, she is standing firm with her anti-war stance to the Indian Media.
Right now, I am not in a position to watch social media sites. But I still stand by what I said about war. People have their opinion; it is the individual’s freedom of speech. I am no different.
However, several people from Kolkata who witnessed the trolling decided to take on the trolls directly. The student community and other people in the city too took a stance against the trolls.
Twitter also joined ranks with her to fend off the trolls and lauded her for the pacifist stance.
Salute the courageous war widow, Mita Santra, for her humane pacific stand despite her own yet-raw grief. Shame the trolls whose sabres rattle from safe distances. Cowards, they’re eager to egg on others but would the first to flee from personal danger.
— bachi karkaria (@bachikarkaria) February 28, 2019
A woman who lost her husband in the #Pulwama attack, Mita Santra, has the courage to #SayNoToWar _ she's being trolled for it. I, and my organisation AIPWA, stand with Mita. In her own way she's just as courageous as any soldier & it's the armchair warrior trolls who r cowards. https://t.co YvUEo73Bd
— Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) February 28, 2019
Mita Santra, whose husband, Babloo Santra, was one of the 40 CRPF jawans who died in the Pulwama said “war-cannot-solve-every-problem”. She has been abused & trolled on social media for her statement. Is talking sense also a blasphemy? Are we in the age of hypernationalism?
— Ashok Upadhyay (@ashoupadhyay) February 28, 2019
We do not want war. Many wives like me will lose their husbands. Many daughters like mine will lose their fathers. But I want those guilty to be punished: Mita Santra, wife of Bablu Santra who died in #PulwamaAttack. Salute sister, you spoke for all of us.https://t.co/RvYrW1siMB
— Dipankar (@Dipankar_cpiml) February 17, 2019
Having said that, many notable media personalities from the Indian side have been pushing the war rhetoric and making statements like “with us or against us” on live television causing lot of anger and instability among the masses. It’s sad to see the prevalence of war mongering from the Indian side. The widow of the martyred Indian soldier is already enduring an ordeal, it is unfortunate that she has had to face such severe and nonsensical criticism.