Antara🌻

Something deeply disturbing is happening in Kolkata. Bigg Boss Bangla featured two contestants, Nandini and Rajveer, who claimed to be in a relationship. What followed was shocking. Nandini repeatedly slapped and scratched Rajveer, at least ten times in the footage shown by the channel. After people across the spectrum raised their voices against this behaviour, Star Jalsha finally removed her from the show yesterday. But what has happened since is equally disturbing. Nandini’s father has been appearing before the media, openly defending his daughter. His argument? “In every family, couples raise their hands against each other. It is normal.” And Bengali media is giving these statements extensive coverage. They are being discussed across television channels and social media. Think about what we are normalising here. Physical violence between partners is being casually defended as something that happens in every household. A parent is publicly justifying it, and the media is turning that justification into another talking point. What a depressing state of affairs. We really need to ask ourselves what kind of behaviour we are willing to accept and normalise in the name of entertainment.