Naseeruddin Shah is known to put forward strong opinions and he always voices them. Once again his statement is creating ruckus on social media. His recent statement on 'The Kerala Story' has been raising many questions. The actor said that today's times are quite worrying because of how undisguised propaganda is being peddled into the masses through art. Naseeruddin, who has been a vocal critic of the ruling government, said hate against Muslims is being 'cleverly' tapped into and has become 'fashionable'.
When asked if it’s a worrying sign that certain films are being used to grow hatred against Muslims. He said that the mood in ongoing films is the reflection of what is happened in reality. Naseeruddin told Indianexpress, "Oh sure, these are worrying times absolutely. The kind of stuff that’s pure, undisguised propaganda is being lapped up and it’s a reflection of the zeitgeist of the times. Muslim hating is fashionable these days, even among educated people. It’s what the ruling party has very cleverly tapped into this nerve. We talk about secular this, democracy that, so why are you introducing religion into everything?.”
He added that the election commission is a mute spectator to politicians who are using religion to get votes. "I mean how spineless is the election commission of ours? Who doesn’t even dare utter a word. If there had been a Muslim leader who had said, ‘Allah Hu Akbar bol ke button dabao’, sh*t would have hit the fan."
The veteran actor hopes that this religion card further wears off. However, he opined that it's a clever card played by the Government and it has worked. "But here our Prime Minister goes ahead and says things like this and yet he loses. So, I have hope that this will wear off. But it’s definitely, at the moment, at its peak. It’s been a very clever card played by this government, and it has worked. Let’s see how long it continues to work,” he added.
The actor, who is known for his bold and controversial statements, is currently seen in Taj: Reign of Revenge, which also stars Aditi Rao Hydari, Aashim Gulati among others. It is streaming on ZEE5.
