Priyanka Chopra was called ‘a bit of a hypocrite’ by a fan in Los Angeles on Saturday over a tweet from earlier this year praising Indian military strikes in Pakistan.
The tense moment took place at the BeautyconLA event at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday.
Chopra was on stage taking questions from the audience when one young woman stepped up to the mic and confronted the Quantico star about her political views.
‘So, it was kinda hard hearing you talk about humanity, because as your neighbor – a Pakistani – I know you’re a bit of a hypocrite,’ the woman who identified herself on social media as Ayesha Malik said.
Priyanka Chopra defended herself on Sunday when she was accused of ‘promoting nuclear war’ between India and Pakistan. She is seen above at BeautyconLA at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Saturday
Chopra was on stage taking questions from the audience when one young woman, Ayesha Malik, stepped up to the mic and confronted the Quantico star about her political views
Chopra then responded that she would answer her ‘whenever you’re done ranting.’
Malik mentioned a tweet by Chopra from February which she says was ‘encouraging nuclear war against Pakistan.’
She told Chopra: ‘As a Pakistani, millions of people like me have supported you in your business…’
Malik was then cut off as a security guard took the microphone out of her hands.
Chopra then responded that she would answer her ‘whenever you’re done ranting.’
The former Bollywood star then said: ‘I have many, many friends from Pakistan and I am from India.
‘War is not something I’m really fond of but I am patriotic so I’m sorry if I hurt sentiments to people who do love me and have loved me.
Chopra has been widely criticized for a February 26 tweet which read: ‘Jai Hind.’ The tweet included the hashtag #IndianArmedForces as well as an emoji of a flag of India and two hands clasped together. ‘Jai Hind’ is translated from Sanskrit as ‘victory to India’ or ‘long live India.’
‘But I think that all of us have a sort of middle ground that we all have to walk just like you probably do as well.’
Chopra then took Malik to task for ‘the way that you came at me right now.’
‘Don’t yell,’ the actress said. ‘We are all here for love.’
At this point, many in the audience began to cheer Chopra. The cheers drowned out Malik as she once again accused the Indian actress of being a ‘hypocrite.’
Ayesha Malik is pictured above at Beautycon Festival Los Angeles at Los Angeles Convention Center on Saturday. She said she was a fan of Chopra’s work in Bollywood
‘Hi, I’m the girl that “yelled” at Priyanka Chopra,’ Malik tweeted
On Twitter, Malik identified herself as the questioner and blasted Chopra for ‘gaslighting’ and ‘turning the narrative around on me being the “bad guy”.’
On Twitter, Malik identified herself as the questioner and blasted Chopra for ‘gaslighting’ and ‘turning the narrative around on me being the “bad guy”.’
‘Hi, I’m the girl that “yelled” at Priyanka Chopra,’ Malik tweeted.
‘It was hard listening to her say, “We should be neighbors and love each other” – swing that advice over to your [prime minister].
‘Both India and Pakistan were in danger. And instead she tweeted out in favor for nuclear war.’
Chopra has been widely criticized for a tweet she posted on February 26 which read: ‘Jai Hind.’
The tweet included the hashtag #IndianArmedForces as well as an emoji of a flag of India and two hands clasped together.
‘Jai Hind’ is translated from Sanskrit as ‘victory to India’ or ‘long live India.’
Chopra was reacting to news from the Indian Subcontinent, where Indian fighter jets conducted bombing raids against suspected militants in neighboring Pakistan.
The airstrikes were Indian retaliation for a February 14 suicide car bombing that killed more than 40 Indian security personnel in the disputed area of Jammu and Kashmir.
A group called Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based organization whose goal is to wrest control of Kashmir from India, took responsibility for the attack.
Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol a street in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Saturday. The disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir has for decades been the flashpoint of fighting between India and Pakistan – two nuclear-armed powers in the Indian Subcontinent
Both countries claim Kashmir, and have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region, which they have disputed since partition and independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Chopra’s tweet generated backlash from critics who said she was ‘glorifying war.’
An online petition even demanded that the actress be stripped of her status as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.
Pakistani actress Armeena Rana Khan wrote: ‘What?!!! But aren’t you supposed to be Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF? Screenshot this everyone and next time she speaks for peace and goodwill. Let’s remind her of this hypocrisy.’
Khan also called on other Bollywood actors to be stopped from ‘preaching to the world’ if they continued to ‘call for war’ between the two nations.
Chopra previously expressed support for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who leads a right-wing Hindu nationalist government, when she invited him to her wedding to Nick Jonas.