Twinkle Khanna calls Army man a troll; plays the woman-victim card

The Indian Navy uniform that Akshay Kumar wore in the 2016 film Rustom, is in the middle of yet another storm. A few days ago, actor-columnist and Akshay's wife Twinkle Khanna took to Instagram to share that the naval uniform that the actor wore in Rustom was going under the hammer.

Twinkle's post read, "Using all the goodwill I have left to raise money for a good cause :) Do bid folks! And thank you @karanjohar @hrithikroshan @sonamkapoor and of course @akshaykumar for giving all this fab stuff to @saltscout toward the Janice Smith trust for animal welfare! www.SaltScout.com"

The post raked up quite a controversy on social media, with some netizens "imploring" Twinkle to "stop this mockery" while asking her to "please understand and respect the difference between a costume and an uniform", while others supported the actress-turned-columnist for the auction that is aimed at "needy people" (the auction is to support animal welfare).

The debate on social media peaked yesterday, when Twinkle responded to a tweet by India Today's Sandeep Unnithan, in which he said, "And this response to @mrsfunnybones ill advised idea to auction the Rustom costume comes from one of the finest men in uniform I know- Lt Col Sandeep Ahlawat."

Ahlawat's FB post reads,

"Dear Twinkle Khanna,

I am not on Instagram so giving you a rebuttal on Facebook. Your idea of auctioning the costume that your husband donned in movie Rustom for raising money for your NGO is as sick as your funnybones jokes/books/blog. Your Instagram post about the nauseating idea is flawed on following grounds:-

1. What your husband wore in movie Rustom was a piece of costume and not uniform.

2. Indian Armed forces wives (Army, Navy and Airforce) do not auction their husbands uniforms.

3. Uniform is not a piece of cloth that a producer hands over to cinestars for enacting roles and make some quick bucks. The permission to wear Uniform comes from the office of the President of India. Uniform is earned with your blood, toil and sweat which is placed on the mortal remains of a soldiers along with the tricolour.

4. If you even make a feeble attempt to auction this piece of costume in the garb of "UNIFORM" then I will drag you to the court. You may like to check my credentials. You touch our honour and we will give you a bloody nose.

Warm regards.
An enraged citizen!!"

Twinkle responded to Unnithan's tweet, "As a society do we really think it's all right to threaten a woman with bodily harm for trying to raise funds for a charity by auctioning a uniform used in a movie,a piece of film memorabilia ? I will not retaliate with violent threats but by taking legal action! #JaiHind"

It was the use of the phrase "we will give you a bloody nose" that left Twinkle irked. While she interpreted it as "threatening a woman with bodily harm", Twitter users pointed out that "bloody nose" was merely a phrase that was used to mean "defeating someone".

Today, Sandeep Ahlawat took to Facebook again to put out his point of view on the issue:

"Dear Ms Twinkle Khanna,

I am a tax paying and law abiding citizen of this great and free country. I lead a non descript and non glamourous life and would not barter it with anything under the sun. You on the other hand are a filmstar/wife of a famous filmstar, entitled, privileged lady who is always riding the high horse. You are also a prolific writer of some repute who has profferd her views on both political and social scene with elan, wit and satire, I had hoped that you will not be sensitive to the use of idiom 'bloody nose' which in military speak means to defeat someone/ standing up for what is right/ giving a good fight (you out of sheer arrogance/conceit did not even refer to a dictionary) going forward we will not be surprised if you do not know the meaning of 'Honour' and 'Pride'. Indian soldiers 'live' and 'die' day in day out by these two words.

Any professional soldier worth his salt will be extremely sensitive and touchy yes... "touchy" to the wrongful representation of military uniform and regalia. We wear our hearts on our sleeves and our resume on our uniform. After all its a matter of "unlimited liability" and "to the peril of my life".

Your suddenly playing the 'woman card' and 'bodily harm card' has been called out and that too by none other than our own countrymen that too at your own twitter feed ( please don't forget that these people also happen to be your ardent fans/ followers) may that reality check help you to put things in perspective. Ma'am please stop insulting the wisdom of the common man of this new India. India's common man has become a huge force to reckon with, they are intelligent, they have a view and they voice it with a degree of certitude. I am sure this new found confidence of our common citizenry must be pretty unnerving for celebrities like you who stay in big mansions with glass walls.

Ms Twinkle Khanna, you have broken the law of the land on two counts:-

1. Improper And derogatory use of word "auction" of Original Naval Uniform, which I reassert can't repeat can't be commercially sourced by unauthorised people leave alone auctioned.

2. Selling and purchasing of Military uniform (other than from the authorised source ) is a punishable act. God forbid if the highest bidder wears that costume and enters a restricted area.

Being a celebrity does not mean you are above the law of the land or will throw caution to the wind /will not follow the ethos of the most disciplined and professional organisation in the world and yes the moment "victim" and "woman mode" were switched 'on' the common sense mode automatically went 'off'. However you did manage to use your influence and financial might to get on board some presstitutes to peddle the 'physical violence' narrative (which never was and can never be part of my small emotional rebuttal. Please refer to the meaning of the idiom 'bloody nose' above) but that too was called out by the netizens.

We thought the image of a wife of a martyr standing next to his uniform will tug at your heart. Unfortunately you didn't get the drift. May be you are made of sterner stuff and are only capable of producing glycerine fuelled tears/emotions . The least we expected from you was an apology for the ill conceived idea which had hurt sentiments of the most loved organisation of the this country...(yes its Indian Armed Forces) as that would have given this whole issue a graceful and dignified closure. Anyways, I wish you loads of luck and truck load of money but please leave the uniformed services alone. Please stop appropriating anything that is Military. Try auctioning your husband's Filmfare/National awards, you will be able to take forward the noble cause of your NGO. Hope this analogy helps you get the drift.

Ma'am i am not itching for a legal fight but if pushed in the corner I will stand by the "Honour" of each soldier who has ever donned the "UNIFORM" for our motherland. There are enough people in this country who can talk straight and more importantly walk the talk when required.
Warm regards,

A hurt citizen!!"

The Indian Navy uniform that Akshay Kumar wore in Rustom was criticised for the many errors it had.

https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/celebrities/story/akshay-kumar-s-rustom-uniform-auction-leaves-armyman-offended-and-twinkle-khanna-fuming-1223302-2018-04-30