When Priyanka Chopra bagged a role as the protagonist of an American television show, she was showered with praise in her native India for making a leap into the Western entertainment industry that few other Indian actresses had.
To many in India, the plot twist implicating Indians in a terrorist act, especially over the touchy issue of Kashmir amounts to a betrayal by Chopra, whom many here see as a quasi-ambassador for India in the West.
The uproar over the episode comes as India's government is trying to publicly distance itself from extremist Hindu organizations.
Recently, a member of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party offered a bounty for beheading a top Indian actress for starring in a movie that he believed would depict a Hindu community negatively.
Modi was also criticized in 2017 for appointing as the leader of India's largest state a Hindu monk who in the past has been quoted as saying, "If they [Muslims] kill one Hindu man, then we will kill 100 Muslim men.
But many argue that Pakistani terrorism has no equivalent in India. "Wow. Power of the global jihad industry. Tainting Hindu nationalism through #Hollywood to cover up for world's greatest terror exporter, Pakistan. Amaze. #Quantico tweeted Abhijit Majumder, a prominent Indian journalist.
Chopra, who has appeared in more than 50 movies, mostly in Bollywood, faces huge pressure to depict India positively abroad. She was trolled in India when she visited a Rohingya refugee camp in May for spotlighting the suffering of Muslims rather than visiting persecuted Hindus. She was also recently criticized for baring her legs in a meeting with Modi, with many saying online that her wardrobe choice at the meeting offended conservative Indian sensibilities.
Jodha Akbar
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