{"id":8729,"date":"2016-05-09T08:30:14","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T02:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/?p=8729"},"modified":"2021-08-16T10:42:03","modified_gmt":"2021-08-16T04:57:03","slug":"you-dont-have-to-agree-with-someones-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/you-dont-have-to-agree-with-someones-opinion\/","title":{"rendered":"You Don&#8217;t Have to Agree with Someone&#8217;s Opinion to Defend Their Freedom of Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Dumb-Shiwani-Neupane-jokes-feat-image.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"629\" src=\"http:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Dumb-Shiwani-Neupane-jokes-feat-image.png\" alt=\"Dumb Shiwani Neupane jokes - feat image\" class=\"wp-image-8740\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Dumb-Shiwani-Neupane-jokes-feat-image.png 1200w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Dumb-Shiwani-Neupane-jokes-feat-image-300x157.png 300w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Dumb-Shiwani-Neupane-jokes-feat-image-1024x537.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Dumb-Shiwani-Neupane-jokes-feat-image-768x403.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in November when Robert Penner discovered a Facebook page deriding Shiwani Neupane, he sprung into action, calling people to report the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote twitter-tweet tw-align-center is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Help take down this bullying page against <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShiwaniNeupane\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@shiwanineupane<\/a>. Click 3 dots btn, Report Page. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ElUDcULQkE\">https:\/\/t.co\/ElUDcULQkE<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yTzvLCIrCT\">pic.twitter.com\/yTzvLCIrCT<\/a><\/p><p>\u2014 Robert Penner (@robpenner) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/robpenner\/status\/663822128123285504\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">November 9, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That in spite of the fact that he had a longish history of Twitter &#8220;war&#8221; with Neupane (and other public figures) over a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/report\/2015\/10\/16\/we-are-not-nepali\/protest-and-police-crackdown-terai-region-nepal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Human Rights Watch report<\/a> of human rights violations in the Southern Plains during the agitation the preceding two months. Penner describes the &#8220;war&#8221; in detail in <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.madhesiyouth.com\/human-rights\/nepal-public-figures-challenge-human-rights-watch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nepal Public Figures Challenge Human Rights Watch<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this month, Penner was picked up by the police for his Twitter activities and,&nbsp;after 26 hours in jail, asked to voluntarily&nbsp;leave the country in two days. His crime? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/anupkaphle\/nepal-asks-canadian-citizen-to-leave-the-country-for-tweetin?utm_term=.mbyzEzEZ5#.pb23838qj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8220;Threatening&#8221; participation in social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With that, my amusing observation early last month&nbsp;took a sinister turn. (See <em><a href=\"http:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/wag-the-dog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wag the Dog<\/a><\/em> for more on GoN&#8217;s reaction to the perceived threats.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote twitter-tweet tw-align-center is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Amusing observation: GoN feels threatened by foreign powers (India, EU etc.); Nepali social media users by foreign commentators.<\/p><p>\u2014 Dorje Gurung (@Dorje_sDooing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dorje_sDooing\/status\/719179402618224640\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">April 10, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Penner&#8217;s arrest followed a flurry of activity on Twitter. During her exchanges with Neupane about Penner and the deportation incident, Supriya Manandhar tweeted about Penner coming to her support:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote twitter-tweet tw-align-center is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShiwaniNeupane\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@ShiwaniNeupane<\/a> + does it mean anything to you that Robert petitioned widely to bring down the bullying page making fun of you?+<\/p><p>\u2014 Supriya Manandhar (@patansoup) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/patansoup\/status\/727380634570649600\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">May 3, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her response belied a clear lack of understanding of why Penner might have petitioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote twitter-tweet tw-align-center is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/patansoup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@patansoup<\/a> if someone bullies you nonstop, mentions you like a fanatic, then tries to plays saviour when things get out of hand, would it?<\/p><p>\u2014 Shiwani Neupane (@ShiwaniNeupane) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShiwaniNeupane\/status\/727381630571020288\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">May 3, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had\u00a0responded to\u00a0Penner&#8217;s call to report the Facebook-bullying page (see image at the top) and had asked others to do the same (see image below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"631\" height=\"588\" src=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/report-FB-deriding-shiwani-neupane-1-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21721\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/report-FB-deriding-shiwani-neupane-1-1.png 631w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/report-FB-deriding-shiwani-neupane-1-1-500x466.png 500w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/report-FB-deriding-shiwani-neupane-1-1-150x140.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 631px) 100vw, 631px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>When I discovered that the page had been removed, I commented underneath tagging her, which she acknowledged. (I don&#8217;t remember why or how she is a Facebook friend of mine.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"558\" src=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/report-FB-deriding-shiwani-neupane-2-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21722\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/report-FB-deriding-shiwani-neupane-2-1.png 630w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/report-FB-deriding-shiwani-neupane-2-1-500x443.png 500w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/report-FB-deriding-shiwani-neupane-2-1-150x133.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Having thus contributed to the take down of the page, I responded to Neupane to draw attention to the important fact that I petitioned in spite of NOT agreeing with her opinions AND to ask her if Penner may have done the same for a different reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote twitter-tweet tw-align-center is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShiwaniNeupane\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@ShiwaniNeupane<\/a> I did too though I don&#8217;t agree with your opinions. Could <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/robpenner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@robpenner<\/a> have done it for a different reason as well? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/patansoup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@patansoup<\/a><\/p><p>\u2014 Dorje Gurung (@Dorje_sDooing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dorje_sDooing\/status\/727510355329449984\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">May 3, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She did not respond in any way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following day I tweeted the following with a screenshot of the above exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote twitter-tweet tw-align-center is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Some of us do believe in, &amp; do our best to uphold, principles &amp; universal rights. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/I6tTz8V3aJ\">pic.twitter.com\/I6tTz8V3aJ<\/a><\/p><p>\u2014 Dorje Gurung (@Dorje_sDooing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dorje_sDooing\/status\/727649537569992704\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">May 4, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And two days later, the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote twitter-tweet tw-align-center is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShiwaniNeupane\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@ShiwaniNeupane<\/a> Here&#8217;s why I petitioned. Feel free 2 block me if u feel I&#8217;m harassing u. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/patansoup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@patansoup<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KkrgDqQTGO\">pic.twitter.com\/KkrgDqQTGO<\/a><\/p><p>\u2014 Dorje Gurung (@Dorje_sDooing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dorje_sDooing\/status\/728038703910821888\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">May 5, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>As indicated in my tweet, I don&#8217;t agree with some of Neupane&#8217;s opinions nor do I agree with some of her assessments etc. But I&#8217;ll defend her right to express herself, as well as the rights of others, such as Penner, as long as they express themselves civilly, reasonably and logically. You don&#8217;t have to agree with someone&#8217;s opinion to defend their freedom of speech, which, like all other universal freedoms, is considerably more important than personal differences (of opinion for example).<\/p>\n\n\n<p>[bctt tweet=&#8221;You don&#8217;t have to agree with someone&#8217;s opinion to defend their freedom of speech.&#8221; username=&#8221;Dorje_sDooing&#8221;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Based on the limited information I have about Neupane, which is mostly tweets, it appears she is unable to see Penner&#8217;s deportation incident beyond how he made her feel when he <a href=\"http:\/\/www.madhesiyouth.com\/human-rights\/nepal-public-figures-challenge-human-rights-watch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">persistently challenged and questioned her opinion<\/a> on the HRW report. She doesn&#8217;t seem to know or understand or care why Penner and I had petitioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Incidentally, this is a Nepalese woman with almost 9K followers on Twitter and whose <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShiwaniNeupane\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@shiwanineupane<\/a>&nbsp;profile reads thus:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Writer of novel Crossing Shadows\/ 2015. Columbia Journalism\/ Ithaca Grad. Currently in business. Op-ed Writer, Co-founder @storysouthasia.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>What do you think?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">* * * * * * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">References:<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/report\/2015\/10\/16\/we-are-not-nepali\/protest-and-police-crackdown-terai-region-nepal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cLike We Are Not Nepali\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;Protest and Police Crackdown in the Terai Region of Nepal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.madhesiyouth.com\/human-rights\/nepal-public-figures-challenge-human-rights-watch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nepal Public Figures Challenge Human Rights Watch<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/anupkaphle\/nepal-asks-canadian-citizen-to-leave-the-country-for-tweetin?utm_term=.mbyzEzEZ5#.pb23838qj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nepal Expels Canadian Citizen For Tweeting About Its&nbsp;Politics<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Difference of opinion should NOT stop one from fighting for the freedom of speech of another individual, as long as they exercise that right civilly, observing all the decorums expected of them in social discourses. <\/p>\n<p>But, sadly, NOT everyone seems to think so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":8740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"You Don't Have to Agree with Someone's Opinion to Defend Their Freedom of Expression","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[104],"tags":[214,109,311,312,287,318,610,304],"class_list":["post-8729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-justice","tag-activism","tag-human-rights","tag-robert-penner","tag-shiwani-neupane","tag-social-media","tag-social-media-freedom-of-speech","tag-tweets","tag-twitter"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Dumb-Shiwani-Neupane-jokes-feat-image.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Jbro-2gN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}