Tag: Rupi Kaur

  • After Rupi Kaur, several prominent South Asian celebrities chose to boycott White House Diwali event

    After Rupi Kaur, several prominent South Asian celebrities chose to boycott White House Diwali event

    South-Asian poet Rupi Kaur went viral on social media on Tuesday when she announced that she had refused o attend a Diwali celebration being held at the White House. In an open letter, the poetess condemned President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over their complicity in the on-going Gaza genocide, adding she will not be used as a token to white-wash their crimes. She further urged her fellow South Asian colleagues to also refuse to participate in the White House event.

    READ MORE: Poet Rupi Kaur rejects White House invitation for Diwali citing ‘genocide’ of Palestinians

    Wall Street Journal has reported that more South Asian celebrities have boycotted the White House event. This includes ‘Never Have I Ever’ actress Richa Moorjani, who also signed an open letter calling for a ceasefire along with fellow actor Poorna Jagannathan. Journalist Sabrina Siddiqui shared screenshots of the article on her Instagram account.

    TikTok influencer Payal Desai, who has more than 293K followers on the platform, as well as prominent desi magazine Brown Girl Magazine, were among those who rejected the invite.

    Speaking to Siddiqui, tech entrepreneur and investor Anjula Acharia revealed she had declined the invite to Vice President Kamala Haris’ Diwali party, as had filmmaker Shruti Ganguly.

    “At this very moment, at a time of war, I find that their specifically one-sided stance is creating even more devastation,” Shruti responded. “The fact that there is little or no support or acknowledgement of the pain that Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims are facing at this moment, it’s really been disappointing.”

  • Poet Rupi Kaur rejects White House invitation for Diwali citing ‘genocide’ of Palestinians

    Canadian poet and illustrator Rupi Kaur has released a statement on her X account, announcing that she rejected an invitation from the White House for Diwali. In her statement, the ‘Milk And Honey’ writer said she rejected the invite because of USA’s active participation in the genocide of Gaza.

    The Palestinian death toll has risen to 10,000 since Israel begun it’s bombardment of the Gaza strip.

    “Today, the American government is not only funding the bombardment of Gaza, they continue to justify this genocide against Palestinians- regardless of how many refugee camps, health facilities, and places of worship are blown to bits. They reject the call for a humanitarian ceasefire- a baseline action being demanded by the United Nations, organisations like Doctors Without Borders, Red Cross and a majority of countries. The UN says 70% of the dead are women and children. We have seen Israel use phosphorus bombs, which Amnesty International says must be investigated as a war crime. We’ve seen footage on CNN of Israeli settlers kicking out and occupying the homes of Palestinians in the West Bank.”

    “As a community,” Rupi further urges. “We cannot remain silent or agreeable just to get a seat at the table. It comes at too high a cost to human life. Many of my contemporaries have told me in private that what’s happening in Gaza is awful, but they aren’t going to risk their livelihood or “a chance at creating change from the inside”. There is no magical change that will happen from being on the inside. We must be brave. We must not be tokenized by their photo-ops. The privilege we lose from speaking up is nothing compared to what Palestinians lose each day because this administration rejects a ceasefire.”

    Social media users applauded Rupi’s heroic stance against the White House. With many Gazan’s like Palestinian academic Refaat writing:

    “Thank you from Gaza.”

    “This is principle, solidarity, and love in action. If only other writers, actors, “activists” and public figures from South Asia and the Middle East had Rupi’s courage and heart,” Fatima Bhutto wrote.