Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt has come out strongly against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and the Delhi police violence against the students of the Jamia Millia Islamia university, who were protesting against the act, on Sunday, 15 December. The director has called for boycott of the “CAB based NRC”.
Bhatt, along with Congress leader Sanjay Jha, joined a protest meet in Mumbai, hours before the violence broke at the university. In a video that has been doing the rounds of social media, Bhatt can be seen taking a pledge against the Act.
“We believe Citizenship Amendment Bill is discriminatory and it violates the constitutional values. We don’t accept this bill and if it becomes a law we shall boycott its execution. We pledge not to submit any documents if asked to prove our citizenship.”Mahesh Bhatt
Following the police brutality at the university, Bhatt also tweeted about protecting the constitution, India’s democracy and rights of the minorities, in a series of tweets.
Bhatt also commented on several Bollywood biggies keeping mum during this time.
In the last two days, several Bollywood celebs have taken to the social media to either criticise the actions of the police or appealing to citizens for “peaceful protests”, including Sayani Gupta, Vikrant Massey, Swara Bhaskar, Sidharth Malhotra, Parineeti Chopra, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao, among others.
Protests have been taking place in several parts of the country ever since the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed in Lok Sabha last week. But the situation further escalated after the bill was cleared in Rajya Sabha.
The Bill, which has now become an Act, will provide Indian nationality to several religious groups, which include Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists, except Muslims, fleeing persecution in countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
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