AR Rahman's daughter shuts down trolls questioning her choice of wearing a niqab

There’s no denying that social media platforms have empowered people across the globe; on the flip side, it has also enabled fake news and cruel trolls have their way.

This time at the receiving end was ace musician AR Rahman’s daughter, Khatija, who was pictured wearing a niqab.

The maestro’s daughter grabbed eyeballs for giving a heartwarming speech at the 10-year-celebration of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, the film for which his father received two Oscars.

The well-received speech, however, fell on deaf ears of trollers, who only seemed concerned about her appearance. Cynics began calling out Rahman’s apparent double standards for conditioning his daughter into wearing a hijab.

Instead of lambasting them, a reserved Khatija, shut up the trolls through a humble Facebook post written on Thursday. Urging the lot to not be judgmental, she clarified that choosing to wear a niqab was her independent decision, and it wasn’t imposed on her.

Here’s what she wrote on Facebook:

"The recent conversation of myself on stage with my dad has been doing the rounds although I didn't expect such an overwhelming response. However, there were certain comments which said that this attire is being forced by my dad and that he has double standards.

I would like to say that the attire I wear or the choices I make in my life does not have anything to do with my parents. The veil has been my personal choice with complete acceptance and honour.

I'm a sane mature adult who knows to make my choices in life. Any human being has a choice to wear or do what he/she wants and that's what I've been doing. Hence, kindly don't make your own judgments without understanding the exact situation #freedomofchoice. [sic]"

Shortly after Khatija shared the post, Rahman came out in her support and shared a beautiful picture of the family with Nita Ambani on Twitter, using the hashtag 'freedomofchoice'.

In the picture, Khatija can be seen clad in burqa, while her sister is in a pink suit, with neither her face nor her head covered.

The precious ladies of my family Khatija ,Raheema and Sairaa with NitaAmbaniji #freedomtochoose pic.twitter.com/H2DZePYOtA

— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) February 6, 2019

The star-studded event was graced by the presence of industry veterans such as Anil Kapoor, Gulzar, and Sukhwinder Singh, to name a few.