At 65, Rishi Kapoor is pining for Pakistan
Age is catching up with veteran actor Rishi Kapoor. Admittedly, over the hill at 65, he wishes to visit Pakistan before he dies.
"I am 65 years old and I want to see Pakistan before I die. I want my children to see their roots. Bas karva dijiye (Please make it happen)," Rishi tweeted on Sunday.
But pining for the land of his ancestors is one thing; Kapoor has stirred a hornet’s nest by further commenting that POK belongs to Pakistan just as J&K is India’s.
Kapoor's politically blasphemous tweet came after National Conference's leader Farooq Abdullah remarked that POK belongs to Pakistan and people on the Indian side should stop talking about 'azadi'. Kapoor echoed the sentiment and said that accepting this fact (about PoK) is the only way the issue of Kashmir can be solved. Rishi wrote: "Abdullahji, Salaam! Totally agree with you, Sir. Jammu and Kashmir is ours and Pakistanoccupied Kashmir is theirs. This is the only way we can solve our problem. Accept it."
Rishi, of course, has a house in Peshawar, Pakistan. It was constructed between 1918 and 1922 by Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor, the father of Prithviraj Kapoor, the first member of the family to enter the film industry. The Kapoors shifted to India after the 1947 partition.
Kapoor’s loaded comment drew much mirth in the social media with one Roflindian @Roflindian remarking in zest, ‘‘Sir, Dheere boliye. Sunny Deol ne sun liya to aapke ghar ke pump ukhaad dega.’’ Sir Ravindra Jadeja pointed out: Arre Sirji 65 Ki Age Me Neat Nhi Maarte. Soda Khatm Ho Gya To Paani Hi Mila Liya Karo. POK Is Ours and We will Liberate Balochistan as well.
Abdullah on Saturday had tested the patience of the nationalists when he said that the part of Kashmir held by Islamabad will remain with Pakistan and this was not going to change. He said Jammu and Kashmir needed more autonomy and chided those seeking "azadi". “We were landlocked and surrounded by nuclear powers -China, Pakistan and India. All three of them have atom bombs. We have nothing except Allah’s name. Those who are talking about Azadi are talking wrong.”