‘Wonder Woman’ Gal Gadot would not have thought she might face backlash for sharing her “personal wonder women” with the people worldwide on the last day of 2020. One person she praised raised several eyebrows and netizens questioned if she even knows who the person really is.
On December 31, Gal Gadot decided to share some of the women who have inspired her and called them her “personal wonder women”. One of the women was the infamous Bilkis from Shaheen Bagh protests. Bilkis was a prominent part of the protests that were organized as India decided to give citizenship to religiously prosecuted people from neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. In the now-deleted Instagram story, Gadot shared a picture of Bilkis Bano and wrote, “Bilkis. This 82-year-old activist fighting for women’s equality in India showed me it’s never too late to fight for what you believe in.”
While the story was deleted by Gadot, the image is still in Gadot’s Instagram photos.
Bilkis was not fighting for women’s rights, she wanted persecuted non-Muslims in Islamic nations to be left to die
Those who have followed the incidents that led to anti-Hindu Delhi riots know how misinformed Gadot is in describing Bilkis. Those who don’t know her or have forgotten Shaheen Bagh Dadi, let’s jolt your memory a little bit. Bilkis, who was featured in the list of top 100 influential people of 2020 in Times Magazine, was recently seen at farmers’ protests gaining some more footage for herself. Her presence had brought back the grim memories of the Shaheen Bagh protests, where Islamists sat on a so-called ‘protest’ beginning in December last year, against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Bilkis along with the protestors had blocked a major highway and caused traffic disruptions for months. She was one of the leading ‘protestors’ at Shaheen Bagh against the humanitarian Citizenship Amendment Act. The sit-in protests disrupted the lives of the people of Delhi. Shaheen Bagh, the mecca of anti-CAA protests, was one of the major reasons that led to the worst anti-Hindu riots in recent history. Women like her were used as a shield at the sit-in protests. Anti-India slogans had attracted separatists from all over India and provided cover for the radicals and extremists. In the end, the riots happened and many including Dilber Singh Negi, IB officer Ankit Sharma and others were killed mercilessly.
Moreover, the anti-CAA protestors were essentially opposing the Indian government’s decision to grant citizenship to persecuted minorities in the three neighbouring Islamic nations, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Hindus, Sikhs and Christians in these nations are facing genocide. They are killed, kidnapped and raped every day. But the so-called ‘protestors’ saw the humanitarian law as “anti-Muslim”. Bilkis Bano of Shaheen Bagh was the face of such an Islamic movement that wanted the persecuted non-Muslims to be left to be killed.
Reaction from netizens
Several netizens criticized the Israeli actress for not doing her homework before supporting someone. A user Monica tagged Gadot and wrote, “Bilkis wasn’t fighting for women’s equality in India but she was opposing a law that gave citizenship to persecuted minorities of South Asia. You must read better.”
https://twitter.com/TrulyMonica/status/1344504969148305414?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwAnother Twitter user stated that Gadot’s post was a result of the powerful leftist lobby that spreads and creates misinformation and even makes it popular. It is notable here that Rana Ayyub had written a note for Bilkis in the Time Magazine for her inclusion in the list. Even in that note, she had spread blatant lies that the CAA was about ‘blocking citizenship for Muslims’. Time, however, had published that blatant lie without even bothering to verify.
https://twitter.com/brawling_virago/status/1344518605753307139?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/ImpoliteHindu/status/1344513807041744899?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwAnother user tried to remind Gadot, a Jew, that the CAA was about helping the non-Muslims who are facing the same persecution that Jews faced, but by hailing people like Bilkis, the actress has shown that she is either ignorant or callous about the religious persecution happening in the Islamic nations.
https://twitter.com/srini791751/status/1344553091882913793?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwAs international media praised Bilkis, there is a slight chance Gadot was fed the wrong information about the Shaheen Bagh Dadi. Gadot has deleted the story but the Instagram post still remains. You can learn about the anti-Hindu Delhi riots from our Delhi Riots archive or OpIndia’s report on the Delhi riots that is available on Kindle.