Shweta Tiwari questions Raj Thackeray over alleged MNS-linked online abuse.
The actor highlights gendered trolling targeting women across social media platforms.
Tiwari questions whether online abuse reflects the values of Marathi identity.
Actor Shweta Tiwari has questioned Raj Thackeray after alleging that some social media users associated with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have targeted women with abusive comments. In a series of Instagram posts, Tiwari criticised the normalisation of gendered trolling and questioned whether such behaviour reflects the pride associated with being a Marathi manus.
Shweta Tiwari calls out alleged online trolls
Tiwari said the abuse directed at women online cuts across age, profession and social background. She was particularly disturbed after looking at the profile of an alleged troll, whom she identified as a doctor with photographs of his wife and child.
The actor questioned how men could attack women online while expecting dignity and respect for the women in their own families. She also alleged that some comments had targeted her children.
Tiwari wrote that she had watched The Traitors 2 contestant Parul Gulati’s Instagram Live and noticed several users using derogatory language against the women participating. She questioned how such abuse had become normalised.
Tiwari asks Raj Thackeray about MNS supporters
The actor also linked one alleged troll to support for Raj Thackeray or his party. Tiwari said she had spent her entire life in Maharashtra and had grown up seeing pride attached to Marathi identity.
She recalled the respect traditionally associated with Marathi women and questioned whether people who identify as Marathi manus should be using abusive language against women.
Directly addressing Raj Thackeray, Tiwari asked whether such conduct was acceptable if the alleged offenders were his supporters. She argued that speaking Marathi or expressing love for Maharashtra should go alongside respecting women.
Tiwari concluded that the issue extended beyond her own experience, pointing to a wider culture of online harassment in which social media users feel entitled to attack women they do not know personally.
