Priyanka Chopra is quite accustomed to making headlines – many times, for all the wrong reasons. The celebrated Bollywood star, who has made a name for herself in Hollywood too, was recently in the news for hosting the virtual ceremony announcing this year’s Oscar nominations alongside husband Nick Jonas. This week, though, she is in the news for a statement she recently made about growing up in a secular household.
Here’s what happened. Last week, it was revealed that Chopra is the next guest on Oprah Winfrey’s new talk show. Since then, several clips from the tete-a-tete have gone viral, causing a furor on social media. Herein, the Quantico star can be seen speaking about her secular upbringing in India and her religious views.
Chopra started off by describing how she had been influenced by different religions throughout her life, from Christianity to Islam to, of course, Hinduism. When questioned about her spiritual journey, she said, “With the number of religions that we have in India… I grew up in a convent school, hence was aware of Christianity. My dad used to sing in a mosque and that made me well aware about Islam. Being a Hindu and coming from a Hindu family, I adapted the rituals and teachings of Hinduism. So as far as spirituality is concerned, it’s part of my country and I cannot ignore it.”
The starlet added how her late father educated her about all faiths. “I am a Hindu. I pray and have a temple in my home. I do it as often as I can. But truly, to me, I am a believer that a higher power does exist and I like to have faith in that,” she added.
Post her statement though, many took to Twitter to point out how no one is allowed to ‘sing in a mosque.’ One user said, “Old saying: little knowledge is a dangerous thing. She could have been better off talking about things she knows. In mosques, people pray and leave or attend the Friday sermon but nobody ever sings. Or are you confusing a dargah with a mosque?”Another fan added. “Every day, Priyanka Chopra just becomes more and more unlikeable. I don’t mind what she said but still, very unlikeable.”
One said, “I will pay any amount in the world to never hear from this woman ever again!”
Another shared, “Sing in a mosque? Ma’am, you lived in a country with one of the largest Islamic populations…”
Other than the tweets, there have been many memes about the same. While the trolling continued, some defended the actor by saying how she could be talking about a dargah, not a mosque. “It could be qawwali or ghazals, which are commonly sung in India at mosques,” a user penned.