I’m a young Hindu girl from Gujarat who grew up as a BJP devotee. I love my family, but I was brainwashed by them to believe that BJP is our party and that Congress is corrupt. I was just nine when I was made to support the BJP by my maternal family who was associated with the RSS. On growing up, I realised that I was betrayed. One of the proudest things I ever did was to break my biases and finally cross the bridge to support Congress.
In 2002, I was 10 years old when I witnessed the Gujarat riots – and the way people paid the price for a political agenda. There was this factory behind my home, which went up in flames in front of my eyes. We had to shift to my dad’s hospital because the fire could also have burned our home. At that time also, I was told lies. You really have to live here to experience, to witness to what extent people are bigots here. They’ve been brought up with lies and real information just does not reach them.
By 2014, I started harbouring some doubts. I remember asking my father, who is a Congressman, why he voted for Congress. On the day of the election, I was voting for the first time and I was confused, but I finally ended up voting for Congress. But between 2014-18, I again absorbed a lot of propaganda and voted for the BJP in the state elections.
When I moved out of my home in 2018, I started using Twitter and got exposed to a lot of new information. I kept believing in the BJP but was also exposed to the other side. I remained in denial for months and was so shocked when I came to know about the lynchings, riots, and incompetence of the government.
For me, the 2019 Delhi riots were the final nail in the coffin. I had sleepless nights and realised I cannot be the person supporting this party. And that’s when I took a stand against the government.
When I came across Rahul Gandhi’s No Confidence Motion speech from 2018 I realized how wrong I was to form an opinion on him without even listening to him. I regret trolling him; I accept I was wrong, a mistake that I have rectified. I now realize if there can be any party with whom my ideologies are aligned, it has to be the Congress.
People often tell me to delete my old tweets, but why should I? Deleting tweets cannot change my past. I have the courage to own up to it. I am not the person I was a few years ago; I have evolved in every way.. Every time when I post stories on WA or discuss stuff with my father now, he always mentions how proud he is of me, and that’s all I want right now.
Trolls have problems because I consider myself a Queen. I reiterate – yes, I am and will always be; I am a strong, smart, and independent woman who has her own mind to judge things and people. I have been abused and name-called; I have received rape threats; just a month ago I was bullied and called ‘shitty’ on my birthday, nothing stopped me from speaking up without playing the victim card.
I will continue what I am doing – to raise my voice against fascists. And no one can stop me.
