"My Kashmiri Accent Is Not An Invitation For Mockery": Influencer Calls Out Trolls

Instagram is flooded with content creators - some showing you their craft, others sharing ins and outs of their lives. Social media has given people space to speak their mind, talk about their heritage, mobilise like-minded users for a noble cause, and make information reach a wide audience.

However, among billions of users are a few thousand trolls - faceless, vicious, and vile. Not only are they self-obsessed and convinced of their own righteousness, but they also leave no opportunity to comment on someone's body, accent, skin colour, parenting style, or way of living.

Zirish is a Kashmiri Pandit living abroad. Her bio reads, "Carrying Kashmir in my habits, chai, and silences." Recently, she took to Instagram to share a video calling out trolls who mocked her Kashmiri accent.

"My Kashmiri accent is not an invitation for mockery, and I won't normalise that anymore," the text on the video read.

Kashmiri Influencer Slams Trolls Targeting Her Accent

Zirish said that she had to come forward with the video because she had been witnessing many people mocking her Kashmiri accent. "I want to say it clearly: if my Kashmiri pronunciation is wrong, please correct me. I will genuinely appreciate it. However, if someone tries to make fun of my Kashmiri accent, that is not correction. That is mockery," she said.

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A post shared by Zirish I Carrying Kashmir in my habits, chai & silences (@zirality)

She added that people trying to correct her pronunciation would be welcome, but if someone came to her comment section with the intention of mocking her accent, she would not tolerate it.

"If you are someone who wants to correct my Kashmiri pronunciation, you are welcome. But if you are here just to target my accent and belittle me, that is where the boundary is. I will not tolerate this behaviour," the influencer added.

She also clarified that she does not have to change her Kashmiri accent. "If you want to talk to me respectfully, you are most welcome. If you just want to target and troll my accent, that is not what my space is for. I am not here to ignore disrespect. That's where I draw the line," Zirish said, concluding the video.

The caption of the video read, "If you've ever stopped speaking your language because someone mocked your accent, this is for you. There's a difference between pronunciation and accent. If my pronunciation's wrong, I'm open to learning. But mocking an accent isn't correction. It's just disrespect. Many of us are simply trying to stay connected to our language, to a part of ourselves. No one should be made to feel embarrassed for that. If my way of speaking isn't for you, you're free to scroll (sic)."

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