Mika Singh’s ‘Diana Panty’ remark: Why we targeted Mika when Diana laughed it off?

Why Diana didn’t stop Mika and correct him at that moment? Why didn’t she ask him at that point of time to desist from making such comments? She could have walked off the stage. Others present on the dais could have asked Mika to not make such unsavoury jokes.

Instead, the viral video shows her laughing at the comment and taking a bit to understand what Mika said. Other celebrities were also present during the event including Jimmy Shergill, Ali Fazal and Neeti Mohan. However, no one present at the event outraged at the comment. And we can see people laughing and enjoying the joke in the YouTube video.

Maybe, blaming Mika is too safe. Media made a villain out of Mika and greedily dug up his involvement in similar incidences from the past. By coalescing the two, it achieved a perfect masala story with all right ingredients. And people got something to ‘talk’ about and to fill their boring days with gossip.

By framing Mika, we all have again refused to get out of our comfort zone. Because there is a serious problem with this country. We don’t ask questions. Actually, scartch that. We don’t raise the right questions. We don’t speak up. And can live with victimisation.

By blaming Mika, we have safely done away with a lot of other questions. It has safely eliminated a chance to debate on the need to speak out, raise one’s voice against wrong. Diana is an independent woman. She has both modelling and movie assignments. What was stopping her from speaking out?

Some media reports have suggested that Diana chose to remain silent because she didn’t want to spoil the decorum of the event. Like, really ? That’s a very lame excuse. Some can call this a dignified act, but this comes very close to ‘not-speaking-out’, ‘being defensive’, ‘being timid’. And it doesn’t send out the right message to young girls. Because staying quiet is never the solution — for people participating in the show or people watching it. Others said she expressed her anger a few days later.

But then, at that moment, for everyone watching the show, it was just a joke to laugh at. Taking umbrage, what’s that?

Maybe, that’s why those young girls have found their ‘motivation’ in Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone. When a few years ago, The Times of India shared a video, angled to show Deepika’s cleavage with a caption that read, ““OMG! Deepika Padukone’s cleavage show.” Deepika didn’t like it and expressed her anger. And many actors supported her.

As far as Mika is concerned, let him be. But next time he makes a tasteless joke at a woman’s expense, he should be stopped then and there. And it doesn’t matter who is asking him to shut up.