Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah on Friday responded to the backlash towards his recent statements on religious intolerance and mob violence in India. At a press interaction in New Delhi, Shah said, “What I said, I said it as a worrying India. I have said it before too. What did I say this time that I am being termed a traitor?”
On Thursday, in a short YouTube short shared by Karwan-e-Mohabbat — a peace collective tracking hate crime in India — Shah was heard saying, “I’m anxious about my children, because they don’t have any religion. We have taught them about good and evil, our views on the world. Religion has got nothing to do with good and evil. I feel anxious for my children because tomorrow if a mob surrounds them and asks them whether they are Hindu or Muslim, they will have no answer.”
In a supposed reference to the recent Bulandshahr violence in Uttar Pradesh, Shah said the video, “The death of a cow is given more significance than that of a police officer.” On December 3, Bulandshahr SHO Subodh Kumar Singh was killed by a mob when he tried tackle protests after cow carcasses were found in a village forest.
Criticism Shah’s statements, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha wrote on Twitter that an artist should not be a part of “anti-civil propaganda”.“Naseeruddin Shah should first ask Rohingyas to leave Hindustan as according to him India is unsafe for him and his family! An artist should not be part of sinister design of anti cil society propaganda . His statement shows his low thinking,” Sinha had written.
Naseeeuddin Shah is regard as one of the faces of the Indian parallel cinema movement, having acted in iconic films like Nishant, Mandi and Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai. The 68-year-old actor was last seen in the family drama film, Hope Aur Hum.