Priyanka Chopra Retains the Right to Speak in Her Personal Capacity: UN Spokesperson
Priyanka Chopra has received a lot of backlash for her tweet reading “Jai Hind”. There was even a letter from Pakistan to UNICEF asking them to remove her as the Goodwill Ambassador for Peace. Now, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his daily briefing on Thursday has clarified that Chopra retains the right to speak in her personal capacity on issues concerning her.
As reported by IANS, he said, “When UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors speak in their personal capacity, they retain the right to speak about issues that interest or concern them, Their personal views or actions do not necessarily reflect those of UNICEF.”
But he also mentioned that the Goodwill Ambassadors have to abide by “impartial positions” while representing UNICEF. “When they speak on behalf of the UNICEF, we expect them to adhere to UNICEF’s evidence-based impartial positions,” he added.
Chopra was accused of “hypocrisy” and of “encouraging nuclear war in Pakistan” by a Pakistani woman during an event in Los Angeles. The woman spoke in reference to Priyanka’s tweet that emerged after the strikes in Pakistan’s Balakot in the aftermath of the deadly Pulwama attack. The Sky is Pink actor had then said, “I have many, many friends from Pakistan and I am from India. War is not something I’m really fond of but I am patriotic, so I’m sorry if I hurt sentiments to people who do love me and have loved me.”
