Naseeruddin Shah and the importance of speaking out regardless of backlash, bullying

Singer Sonu Nigam, who has been in the proverbial eye of the storm for his comments on Pakistani musicians and the #Metoo movement, says he is concerned about the "country's anger" and would like people to "smile and be a little easy". An eye for an eye leads to lynchings and road rage incidents and is just not his style, said the singer who ignited twin controversies last week. He said during a media summit that it would be better if he was from Pakistan so he would get more offers from India. Nigam also attracted attention with his verbal spat with Sona Mohapatra on #Metoo movement.

"I am very concerned about the country's anger. There has to be some decorum. The kind of language people use is unbelievable. The kind of language she (Sona) used, there is so much hatred. I maintained my decorum in all my statements. We need to smile and be a little easy," Nigam told Press Trust of India.

The 45-year-old said he became a victim of sensational headlines and their viral effect on social media. Truth rankles, which is probably the only explanation why the patron saints of the Hindu right wing and their followers have their khaki shorts in a twist over the comments made by 68-yearold Naseeruddin Shah. At this point, it almost seems like members of the saffron brigade are parroting a script they haven’t even paused to read. Because if they had, no person in their right mind would think that it’s okay for a government to prioritise the killing of a cow over the murder of its own police officer. In a cutting, critical, no-holdsbarred interview with Karwan-e-mohabbat, a peace initiative that seeks justice and livelihoods for survivors of mass violence and lynchings, Shah, a veteran actor, spoke about the rising climate of fear and religious intolerance in an increasingly polarised country where many right-wingers enjoyed impunity to take the law into their hands if their religious sentiments were hurt.