IS IT A NEW LOW? SOCIAL MEDIA TRIAL OVER A MARITAL DISPUTE

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Upcoming Punjabi singer and vernacular Actor Dilpreet Dhillon and Amber Dhaliwal have suddenly become the major ‘national’ issue for Punjabis. All news channels of the region are getting obsessed by the troubled marriage of this couple and the youth are worried about it as if Punjab has solved all its problems and there are no more issues to think about now!

 Dear Netizens- kindly leave that couple alone and let them sort it out themselves! There are millions of marital disputes happening every year and couples, families, or courts handle them pretty well. Please don’t be the judges in the family matters of people whom you have not even ever met in your life.

 Both have spilled after Dilpreet Dhillon was reportedly found cheating on his wife. The couple was often seen posting pictures on social media. The couple got married in 2018. Dilpreet Dhillon’s wife has deleted all the pictures with Dilpreet from her Instagram account. She has even changed her username to Amber Dhaliwal. She also recently posted a selfie on Instagram and she mentioned in the post that “trust is fiction”.

CAN WIFE CHEATING make A JUICY STORY?

Recently, a call recording also went viral on social media where Amber was allegedly having a conversation with a girl. The young girl admitted that the Dilpreet Dhillon has been in a relationship with her. During the course of this conversation, Amber informed the girl that she has broken off her marriage for the same reason.

 Reportedly, Dilpreet Dhillon recently shared a story on social media where he mentioned that every relationship has its own problems and misunderstandings. Dilpreet also wrote that “I appeal to everyone for letting this stay a private affair”. As per reports, Dilpreet also said that everything that is happening is a misunderstanding between him and his wife. He also added that he will let his fans know if his relationship gets sorted. Due to the lockdown, the couple is also not able to meet each other. A question here arises, are we a new type of insane community that we find pleasure in sad stories of others, or are we so obsessed with people’s attention that we want to make our troubled marriages a public affair and seek people’s attention.

CAN WE ALLOW DIRTY LINEN BE WASHED AT COST OF OUR ATTENTION?

The dirty linen has no doubt been washed in public and its getting snowballed by allegations and counter-allegations, but it has to end somewhere. It is illegal to use the internet to troll, bully, or harass someone. Just imagine the state of mind of the couple who is facing allegations, counter-allegations, and pronounced judgments by the butting in of those who have got nothing to do with this matter. As a Cyber Psychologist, I have handled innumerable cases where people have gotten into a serious depression and have shown suicidal tendencies as a result of such repeated negative feedback and trolling. I am sure we all have many graver things in our lives, families, and societies to think about and find solutions for. Let’s not use the internet as a means of getting entertained by peeping into the personal lives of others. 

 As they say SPEAK ONLY IF YOUR WORDS ARE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN THE SILENCE, akin to that technology is meant to make lives easy, not to devastate others. Using this technology, let’s build an environment and a culture where we come up with solutions to help and comfort distressed people and not add fuel to the fire. Your every single post on social media matters and goes far and wide – please use it for being a ray of hope for those going through difficult times.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Damanjit Sandhu, an associate professor in the department of psychology, Punjabi University, Patiala, is also a coordinator at the directorate of international students. She has to his credit 80 research papers on adolescent identity formation, risk-taking, school bullying, and cyberbullying and has also co-edited a book entitled “Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Student Well-being in Schools: Comparing European, Australian and Indian Perspectives” published by Cambridge University Press, London. She is also a Regional Editor (India) of the International Journal of the International Observatory of Violence in Schools, Bordeaux, France, and was elected as a Chief of the United States of America’s Association of Mental Health Counseling.