Someone wished my cancer killed me because I wanted 'Joyland' released: Nadia Jamil

Saim Sadiq’s Joyland was deemed ‘uncertified’ on the basis of its allegedly indecent and immoral content. However, it’s alarming and shocking to say the least, that the ones defending its ban said the most immoral and indecent things to people rallying for the award-winning film’s release.

Veteran actor Nadia Jamil faced the worst kind of trolling when users on social media used her cancer as a joke to attack her. Sharing a news report highlighting how she gave a shut-up call to an online troll joking about the same, she revealed how she has received much bigger threats that completely “shook” her.

“At least he didn’t say it [cancer] should have killed me. I had one tweet saying, Nadia Jamil, I wish cancer had killed you. That really shook me. Someone wished my cancer killed me because I want to release Joyland. That made me very sad for a few seconds,” she tweeted adding how she later comforted herself with a slice of pizza because, in the longer run, online bullies have no real significance.

Another instance was when under one of her posts detailing why trans lives matter, a user commented, “Cancer seems to have badly affected your already small brain. Take some time off and spend it on the improvement of your mental health. Thank you.”

Jamil, who has been vocal about her struggle with cancer, warned the troll to “never casually” joke about the impact a life-threatening disease can have on someone’s life. “Cancer left me with chemo-induced diabetes. I was in a coma for four days because I got sepsis. I have permanent chemo-caused nerve damage in my right foot. My children suffered. My mother suffered. My marriage suffered. So don’t ever casually remark to me, what cancer left me with,” she exclaimed.

A concerned fan asked the Behadd actor how she deals with such casual death threats. “They don't mean it. People speak in anger and anger is dangerous because we say things we don't mean,” she humbly replied. “Everyone is trying to do what they think is best for themselves. There are times I don't respond. I walk away. Or block. But life is too short and the potential beauty of loving too powerful.”

It all began when she highlighted the hard reality of how hypocritical people in Pakistan are, especially those who want Joyland banned for showcasing “LGBTQ content” but will go mute the moment Khwajasirahs or young children are raped and tortured in the country. “If people are so upset that Joyland is showing gay love, in a fake fictional movie they have not seen, why are they not upset by the real gay sodomising deaths of Khawajsirahs by men? Is that not Loot ki qoum?” she wrote in a tweet.

Jamil went on to ask, “Why are all these people abusing me because I want to watch a film, which is not abusing men raping little boys at truck stops? Little boys are being raped in Shahrag. Is that not gay for them? Shahrag’s article about real male children being sodomised came out in 2019 and it STILL GOES ON!”

To conclude, she asked everyone calling for a ban on Joyland to introspect and recall all the times they’ve been silent on very real issues while aggressively protesting against a fictional film.

“So, it is gay and a threat to our culture to show pure love in a film, but it's okay when it's real-life rape? Why is there a deafening silence around little boys getting sodomised by grown men?” she concluded.

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