'Was Ill-Informed': Naseeruddin Shah Apologises For His 'Sindhi Language' Remark

Naseeruddin Shah recently received backlash for saying that Sindhi is no longer spoken in Pakistan.

Naseeruddin Shah apologises for his Sindhi-language comment.

(Photo Courtesy: Pinterest) 

Naseeruddin Shah recently received backlash for his remarks that claimed that Sindhi (language) is no longer spoken in Pakistan. The veteran actor has now apologised, saying that he was "ill-informed". However, he inquired whether it was fair to "crucify" him for his comments.

During the promotions of his OTT debut, Taj: Divided By Blood, Shah had reportedly said in one of his interviews, "They have Balochi, they have Bari, they have Siraiki, and they have Pushto. Sindhi is, of course, no longer spoken in Pakistan."

Taking to Facebook on Saturday, 10 June, the Firaaq actor wrote, "OK OK I apologise to the entire Sindhi speaking population of Pakistan who I seem to have deeply offended by my mistaken opinion. I admit I was ill-informed, but is it necessary to crucify me for that? ‘Let him who is free from…’ as Jesus said. Actually I’m quite enjoying being called ‘ignorant’ and ‘pretend intellectual’ after many years of being mistaken for an intelligent person. It’s quite a change!"

Have a look at his post here:

Following Shah's remarks, Pakistani actor Mansha took to Twitter in response and said, "As a proud Sindhi who speaks the language within her household, I beg to differ."

Earlier, Shah had tried to clear the air around the same topic and shared, “Two completely unnecessary controversies seem to have erupted over things I’ve said recently. One is regarding my misstatement of the Sindhi language in Pakistan. I was in error there. The second is over what I’m supposed to have said about the relationship between Marathi and Farsi. My exact words were ‘Many Marathi words are of Farsi origin.’ My intention was not to run down the Marathi language but to talk about how diversity enriches all cultures Urdu itself is a mix of Hindi Farsi Turkish and Arabic. English has borrowed words from all European languages not to mention Hindustani and I suppose that is true of every language spoken on earth.”

Meanwhile, on the work front, Shah was last seen in Taj: Divided by Blood. The historical drama also featured Rahul Bose, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sandhya Mridul, and Zarina Wahab, among others.