Woman activist censures trolling of actress Mahira Khan over her 'smoke-break'

A woman activist on Saturday came out in support of Pakistani and Bollywood actress Mahira Khan on being trolled over her 'smoke-break' and termed it as an 'appalling act' of the public.

Pictures went viral on Friday, where Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor and Mahira are breaking the Internet with their "smoke-break" on the streets of New York City.

Speaking to ANI, women activist Shamina Shafiq said, "The trolling on Twitter to actress Mahira Khan is just an appalling act of the public. Whatever she does in her personal life should not matter to anyone at all. This applies for all the women who should do what they feel is right. It's high time that the people stop reacting on such small issues and concentrate on bigger ones that needs to be noticed."

"Twitter is an amazing platform where opinion and views are shared but trolling is something not 'right'. The trolling army will get nothing out of it rather than making an issue out of nothing. Sometimes people troll just to get notice on something which is lame," she said.

Earlier in the day, Ranbir finally reacted to the ongoing internet furore saying, "I've gotten to know Mahira in a personal capacity over the last few months. She is somebody who I admire and respect, for her achievements and even more for the person she is. It is very unfair the way she is being judged and spoken about. What is also sad is the inequality in judgment just because she is a woman. I request you to stop the negativity and move on with your beautiful god gifted lives. Peace and love. PS - Both smoking and hate are injurious to health."

Yesterday; both the stars broke the internet with their pictures that went viral, where they were seen smoking together. The 'Raees' actress was wearing a backless white dress, while Ranbir sported a simple T-shirt.

While many netizens were quick to comment on their rumoured romance, some took to the social media to 'smoke-shame' and 'slut-shame' the 32-year-old actress.

One twitter user wrote, "If ranbir and mahira are actually dating that'll be the first interesting Bollywood gossip of 2017 (sic)," while another said, "Ranbir and Mahira dating would be the biggest plot twist. You ban our actors and your actors start dating them."

However, some twitteraties also came out in support of the actress.

"Everyone's bashing and slut-shaming @TheMahiraKhan, why because she was smoking a cigarette on streets?" posted one, while another tweeted, "Bashing Mahira for dating Ranbir wearing small dress and smoking is disgusting on so many level's... She's not your slave.

-ANI