Days after his comment chastising Virat Kohli, veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has made headlines again after he spoke his mind about the country's increasingly divisive atmosphere. He stated that he was "anxious" for the safety of his children, who had not been raised as the followers of any particular religion.
In a recent interview with Karwaan-e-Mohabbat India, in an apparent reference to the Bulandshahr mob violence, Shah said the death of a cow is being given more importance than the killing of a policeman.
Shah's comment has left a barrage of misinformation and trolling in its wake, with several pages on Facebook – particularly aligned with the BJP and PM Narendra Modi – putting out content attempting to malign the actor.
An ‘Article’ With A Misleading Headline
Dainik Bharat put out a news article headlined 'भारत रहने लायक देश नहीं है, मुझे तो अपने बच्छों के लिए डर लगता है, घटिया देश है भारत: नसीरुद्दीन शाह.’ (Translated: “India is not fit for living, I am scared for my children. It is a terrible country: Naseeruddin Shah”)
Over its course, the article claims Shah said that with respect to Hindu organisations, cows and the BJP, India is a 'terrible' country, and cannot be lived in.
It must be noted here that Shah had made no such claims in the two-minute video shared by Karwaan-e-Mohabbat.
He had merely said he was ‘anxious’ for his children, and did not see the situation getting better in the country.
The Dainik Bharat article further claimed that Shah had “cursed” the country, when he had, in fact, expressed concern over the way things were progressing in the country, particularly in light of the Bulandshar violence.
Shah had further added that he was "not scared, but angry" with such incidents.
"And I feel every right-thinking man should feel angry, not scared. This is our home, who dare evict us from here,” he questioned.
The Pakistan Comparison
One page - PMO India: Report Card - shared a video posted by one Aalok Pradhan, which had garnered over 28k views in 15 hours.
The video compares Naseeruddin's latest comments to his visit to Pakistan in 2012, where he had said he felt 'welcomed as though he had arrived home'. He had traveled to Pakistan to perform in two plays for the Faiz Ahmed Faiz Foundation.
‘He Signed the Yakub Memon Mercy Petition’
A post shared by Post Card Fans questions Shah for having signed the mercy petition against Yakub Memon's hanging in 2015.
The petition had been submitted to then President Pranab Mukherjee requesting him to consider the mercy plea against Memon, and had been signed by several other jurists, MPs, political leaders and several members from the film fraternity.
Another page - Narendra Modi - True Indian - shared a similar post qustions Shah's actions.
Naseeruddin Shah vs Hamid Ansari
The same page has also shared another video - in turn created by the page 'Argumentative Indian', which juxtaposes Shah's Karwaan-e-Mohabbat interview with Hamid Ansari's press conference upon his return from Pakistan, where he had been imprisoned for six years.
The video shows Ansari kissing the ground upon his arrival, and praising the Indian government for its efforts to repatriate him.
Old Video Edited Out of Context
The page 'Argumentative Indian' has also shared another video, where after Shah's comments, Javed Akhtar is seen saying "मेरी आपसे एक request है, एक हफ्ते के लिए पाकिस्तान चले जाइये, वापस आएंगे तो इस धरती को चूमेंगे (Translated: I have one request, please go to Pakistan for a week. When you return, you will kiss this country's land.)"
The video has been captioned "नसीरुद्दीन शाह को मिला करारा जवाब (Translated: Naseeruddin Shah Given a fitting reply). However, this video has been edited to insert Akhtar's response, which is in fact from 2012.
The original video is from Aaj Tak network's programme 'Agenda Aaj Tak' where Akhtar had given this response to Arvind Kejriwal.
The video has been edited out of context to make it appear as though Akhtar was responding to Shah's comment.
Apart from these posts, several pages have also made posts attacking Shah's personal life, taking a dig at his sons and also his marital life.
Clearly, after Aamir Khan's statement in 2015, Shah's comments have not gone down well with hatemongers, who appear to have taken offence at his words, albeit true.
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