Travel influencer's advisory to women abroad to 'Avoid India' triggers backlash

After the horrific rape and murder of a woman doctor in Kolkata, which has sent shock waves across the nation, Indian travel influencer Tanya Khanijow urged women abroad to “avoid coming to India at all costs.”

This advisory has upset netizens, who are calling Khanijow 'anti-national' and trolling her asking her to go to Pakistan. However, despite all the flak, the influencer is stoutly sticking by her stand.

In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter) after the Kolkata rape, Khanijow pleaded with her women friends abroad not to visit India unless “our dear leadership” creates a safer environment for women.

India not safe for women

“Safety standards for women in India are horrible. My sincere request to all my women friends abroad: Please don’t travel here unless our dear leadership seriously creates a safer environment for women,” she wrote.

Users on social media started slamming her for defaming the country. One user said that she had built up a great reputation over the years with her work and people valued her wise words and advice. Now, in her “rage” she is tarnishing India’s and our leadership’s image. “Kindly value your words. Your voice matters to us," said an user. Another said she should be ashamed of herself to bring down the image of her own country.

Backlash

Reacting to the backlash, Kanjijow stood her ground for she felt that our society at large is failing women. “And unless we call for strict actions, I don’t think we can feel safe,” she wrote.

Her experiences with harassment reflect a broader pattern, she pointed out. "It’s not just one incident. Speak to any woman, and I bet there’s not one who hasn’t experienced some form of assault or another,” she asserted.

Her resolute stand has not gone down well with social media users. There are calls to boycott of Khanijow’s YouTube channel and Instagram accounts, with some users even suggesting she should leave the country.

However, not all were criticil. One user pointed out that the people not agreeing with Tanya were all men. "See the pattern here ? As a nation we are bad at taking criticism and our only response is going on the defensive and saying other countries are worse/problem doesn’t exist,” noted an X user.

“Ignore the trollers, they are the reason why women are not safe in this country. They have to change their mentality first, if they can abuse and troll you here, they will do the same outside of here. Women are not safe in this country, period,” said another iser.

Khanijow’s post came after a young Kolkata doctor was brutally raped by more than one person inside the hospital where she worked. After her night duty, she had gone to rest in the seminar room and was found dead the next morning.

Brazilian-Spanish woman biker gang-raped

In May, this year, a Brazilian-Spanish woman biker was gang-raped when she was biking along with her husband in Jharkhand. After that shocking incident, the Spanish embassy in India posted on X, "We need to stand united in our commitment to end violence against women everywhere in the world."

The couple had travelled to several parts of Asia on their motorbikes before arriving in India in May and they experienced this trauma.

At that time, a US journalist wrote that while India was one of his favourite places, "the level of sexual aggression" he witnessed while living in the country was "unlike anywhere else I have ever been". He also gave a couple of examples of sexual assault faced by women he knew.

At that time, the journalist too came under severe criticism from other users on social media.