Won’t accept a forced donation, says army

NEW DELHI: The army is not comfortable with being dragged into the politics surrounding the release of movie, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)demanded that producers of films employing Pakistani artistes pay `5 crore to an army welfare fund as “penance”.

Several serving and retired officers HT spoke to said the army was an “apolitical and secular” organisation and attempts should not be made to exploit its name for scoring political brownie points.

Former northern army commander Lieutenant General BS Jaswal said, “The army doesn’t go around begging for funds. If a film producer wants to donate, he can do it like any other citizen. But it’ s unacceptable in such a manner .”

Jaswal said the government should have the last word if the matter is too sensitive. “Let’s keep the army out of politics.”

Karan Johar’s movie is finally set for a Diwali release after MNS president Raj Thackeray rolled back his threat to block the film. The climb-down came after the assurance that a share of the film’s profits would be donated for the welfare of army personnel. The MNS also demanded that producers of movies employing Pakistanis pay `5 crore each while the Producers Guild of India promised not to hire Pakistani actors any longer.

The Sena began its protests more than three weeks ago when 19 soldiers were killed in a militant attack in J&K. The MNS’ terms, which were agreed upon in a meeting between Johar, Producers Guild of India president Mukesh Bhatt and Maharshtra CM Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday, went viral on social media with people comparing it to extortion.

“Anyone can contribute to the fund but it has to be voluntary. You can’t force people to make donations and the army wouldn’t like to accept such money,” said a senior officer at the army headquarters.

Kargil war hero Brigadier Khushal Thakur (retd) said national sentiments should not be exploited like this. “If something is wrong, it is wrong. How can a forced donation of `5 crore make it right? ” he said.

Echoing similar views, another officer said its best to resist the temptation of playing politics under the pretext of supporting the army. “If the producers have been arm-twisted into paying the money, there’s no way the army will accept it,” he said.