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Sushmita Banerjee was an Indian writer who was brutally shot dead in Afghanistan for standing up against extremism and oppression.
Sushmita Banerjee rose to prominence when her memoirs of life in Taliban dominated Afghanistan was published in 1995. Titled Kabuliwalar Bangali Bou (A Kabuliwala’s Bengali Wife), the book narrated Sushmita’s tale of marrying an Afghan businessman against her parents’ wishes, moving to Afghanistan, facing the challenges of life under the Taliban and eventually making a daring escape back to India. The book made Banerjee a household name and in 2003, a Bollywood movie named Escape From Taliban was made based on her story, starring Manisha Koirala.
In Afghanistan, Sushmita Banerjee was repeatedly harassed for several perceived slights such as refusing to convert to Islam, refusing to wear a burka as well as refusing to close down a pharmacy which she ran to help the local women.
Earlier this year, Sushmita Banerjee returned to Afghanistan where she continued her work in healthcare and was planning to write another book. However, sadly, it was not to be. On September 4th she was abducted and murdered. May her soul rest in peace.
Why we find her inspiring:
– For shining light on the tyranny and cruelty that was rampant in Afghanistan from a woman’s point of view.
– For sticking to her beliefs despite imminent danger to her life.
– For being brave enough to return to Afghanistan to continue her life and work.
*Photo source: India Today.
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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