I'm 5"3 And Brown and I Am Extremely Happy: Suhana Khan Calls For Ending Colourism

Suhana Khan, the daughter of Shah Rukh Khan, took to her Instagram on Tuesday and shared a strongly worded post which calls for ‘ending colourism’. She shared screenshots of several trolls who criticised her for her complexion calling her ‘Kaali’ and ‘Ugly’ along with a long and empowering post that said that she is extremely happy with her complexion and everyone else should be too.

“There's a lot going on right now and this is one of the issues we need to fix!! this isn't just about me, it's about every young girl/boy who has grown up feeling inferior for absolutely no reason. Here are just a few of the comments made about my appearance. I've been told I'm ugly because of my skin tone, by full grown men and women, since I was 12 years old. Other than the fact that these are actual adults, what's sad is that we are all indian, which automatically makes us brown...” she wrote on her Instagram.

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Read her entire post here:

View this post on Instagram

There's a lot going on right now and this is one of the issues we need to fix!! this isn't just about me, it's about every young girl/boy who has grown up feeling inferior for absolutely no reason. Here are just a few of the comments made about my appearance. I've been told I'm ugly because of my skin tone, by full grown men and women, since I was 12 years old. Other than the fact that these are actual adults, what's sad is that we are all indian, which automatically makes us brown - yes we come in different shades but no matter how much you try to distance yourself from the melanin, you just can't. Hating on your own people just means that you are painfully insecure. I'm sorry if social media, Indian matchmaking or even your own families have convinced you, that if you're not 5"7 and fair you're not beautiful. I hope it helps to know that I'm 5"3 and brown and I am extremely happy about it and you should be too. #endcolourism

A post shared by Suhana Khan (@suhanakhan2) on Sep 29, 2020 at 9:10am PDT

She was praised and supported by several celebrities in the comments section. Actress Dipa Khosla wrote "Awh! Bravo darling! Thanks for joining in." Several other followers also showed their support, one of them wrote, " You don't need others to tell you what you already know, you're a GEM, and you bring so much light to every life you touch. Big Hugs and Miss you."

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Suhana Khan, who is currently a student at The New York University, also shared translations to benefit those who don’t know Hindi. She reportedly studied films at England's Ardingly College earlier and aspires to be an actress.

In our country, there is a widespread obsession with fair skin. Colour prejudice is sadly still openly practised across the country. This needs to be called out.  Actor-director Nandita Das has been known for criticising Indian’s obsession with fair skin. She did a campaign India’s Got Colour which aimed at eliminating the stigma that comes with being dark-skinned.

Image Credit: Instagram/ Suhana Khan

Arunima Sharma is an intern with SheThePeople.TV