Veteran Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah has said that that those who demanded rights were being locked away and their office premises raided, while journalists were routinely being silenced. In a special video for Amnesty International (watch below), Shah also said that wall of hatred were ‘being erected’ and ‘innocents are being killed.’
He said, “Those who demand rights are being locked away. Artists, actors scholars, poets are all being stifled. Journalists too are being silenced. In the name of religion, walls of hate are being erected. Innocents are being killed.”
“Had we dreamt of a country where there is no space for dissent? Where only rich and powerful are heard, and where the poorest and most vulnerable are forever oppressed? Where there once was law, there is now only darkness,” the noted actor added.
Last month, Shah had courted controversy for saying that he felt angry over how the death of a cow was being given more importance than the murder of a police officer. He said that he worried about his children in the new India.
Responding to his comments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had flippantly told news agency ANI, “Before every elections, some people start detecting intolerance. This is part of an individual agenda, I don’t need to comment on that.”