Ban Terrorists, Not Artists: Taslima Nasreen
“Today you ban Pakistani artists. Tomorrow you ban Bangladeshi writers. You will live with yourselves.”
Noted Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen on Wednesday slammed those who are boycotting Pakistani artistes, saying terrorists should be banned not artistes, and cautioned that such actions were similar to Hitler's idea of 'blood purity'.
In a series of tweets, Taslima, who is living in exile in India after facing death threats from fundamentalists in Bangladesh, said:
Hitler, who led Germany during World War II, propagated the idea of a "pure Aryan race" supremacy under Nazism, leading to the killings of millions of Jews and ban on mixed marriages.
Taslima's tweets came a day after filmmaker Karan Johar said he will not "engage with talent" from Pakistan in future and made a fervent appeal against stalling his upcoming film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil that features Fawad Khan.
In the aftermath of the Uri terror attack last month in which 19 Indian jawans were killed, the MNS issued an ultimatum to Pakistani artistes to leave India. They also threatened to stop the screening of films featuring artistes from Pakistan.
Subsequently, Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association passed a motion to ban the artistes from the neighbouring country.
The Cinema Owners Exhibitors Association of India recently decided not to screen the films with Pakistani actors in four states — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Goa.
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