Sinha stands by silent Bollywood stars
Actor-politician says celebrities haven’t spoken because they are afraid
Features Editor - Special Reports
Bollywood-actor-turnedpolitician Shatrughan Sinha has defended his fellow colleagues for not speaking out against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizen (NRC), which have sparked nationwide protests in India and claimed 27 lives in the ensuing violence.
The big guns of Indian film industry including the Bachchans, the Khans and the Kapoors have maintained a stoic silence over the issue, which continues to roil the country.
“Yes, there were expectations from these stars, especially the Khans, but they have preferred to remain quiet for their own reasons. It’s unfair to blame them for not speaking out. They are all good people, it’s just that they are very afraid,” said Sinha while talking to Gulf News on Sunday.
Sinha said he’s delighted to see how some of the other members of the film fraternity have come out in support of protesting citizens.
“I salute the likes of Farhan Akhtar, Swara Bhaskar, Anurag
Kashyap and Javed Jaffrey for standing up against the government and making their voices heard. Look at Swara Bhaskar, for instance. I really admire her courage and tenacity,” he said.
Lashing out
In Dubai to attend the birthday celebrations of a UAE-based Indian businessman, the 73-year-old minced no words in lashing out at the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) of which he was once an active member.
Apart from being a member of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha twice, Sinha held ministerial roles between 2003 and 2004.
However, he fell out with prime minister Narendra Modi and quit the BJP to join the Congress in March 2019.
He contested the 2019 general elections as a Congress candidate from Patna Sahib in Bihar but lost to former BJP colleague Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Sinha said Modi brought the “divisive citizenship law to nurture his Hindu vote bank and divert attention from the serious issues plaguing the country”.
“Our economy is in shambles, the unemployment rate has reached its highest in 45 years, farmers are dying and prices are rising. What did the prime minister do? Nothing, instead he brings a discriminatory law that is unconstitutional and threatens to rupture the social fabric of the country. Not just minorities, any one who cares for India and its secular values should oppose CAA and NRC tooth and nail,” he said.
Police brutality
Sinha also expressed outrage over reports of police brutality, mass arrests and the alleged manhandling of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi by the Uttar Pradesh police earlier this week.
“If the police treats the daughter of Nehru-Gandhi family in this way, one shudders to think how they’d treat commoners,” he said.