A Kashmiri Pandit influencer living abroad has hit back at trolls who mocked her Kashmiri accent, drawing a clear line between correcting pronunciation and ridiculing the way someone speaks.
In an Instagram video, Zirish said she is open to being corrected if her Kashmiri pronunciation is inaccurate, but will not accept comments intended to make fun of her accent.
“My Kashmiri accent is not an invitation for mockery, and I won’t normalise that anymore,” she wrote on the video.
Explaining her decision to address the criticism, Zirish said she had noticed people repeatedly mocking her Kashmiri accent online. She urged viewers to distinguish between genuine correction and deliberate mockery.
“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.
The influencer added that anyone willing to help her improve her pronunciation is welcome to do so. However, she said she would not tolerate people entering her comments simply to belittle her accent or make her feel embarrassed about the way she speaks.
“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,” Zirish said.
She also stressed that she does not feel the need to change her Kashmiri accent to satisfy people online.
“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,” she said.
Zirish’s Instagram caption expanded on the same message, particularly for people who may have stopped speaking their native language after being mocked for their accent.
“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,” she wrote.
She said that for many people, speaking their language is also a way of remaining connected to their identity and heritage, adding that nobody should feel ashamed of doing so.
The influencer concluded by telling those who do not appreciate her way of speaking that they are free to simply scroll past her content rather than use the comment section to mock her.