A day after actor Naseeruddin Shah expressed concern over the growing mob violence in a video interview, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt flayed the Bollywood actor asking if Shah was not worried about the safety of his children during the 1984 riots or the 1993 Mumbai blasts.
In a series of tweets, the wrestler also questioned the decision of Shah to sign the mercy petition of Yakub Memon who was sentenced to death for his involvement in the 1993 Bombay bombings. "When a militant group kidnapped Indian and Bangladesh citizens, and released Bangladeshis because of their religion, and killed all the 39 Indian citizen, were you not angry? Weren't you afraid when you signed the mercy petition of Yakub Memon," Dutt asked the actor.
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Please do not call yourself a patriot after sympathising with militants, Dutt told Shah in another tweet, adding, everyone is equally sad about the loss of lives in Bulandshahr violence. "You were not afraid during the riots in the past when innocent people lost lives. This shows whose side you are on," he further said.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh’s Navnirman Sena booked a ticket for the actor from Mumbai to Karachi. According to media reports, chief of the forum Amit Jani said if Shah is scared of living in India, he should not delay leaving for Pakistan, and added that he has booked a ticket for the actor for August 14, Pakistan's Indipendence Day.
In his interview, in an apparent reference to the recent mob violence in Uttar Pradesh, Shah had said death of a cow is being given more importance than killing of a policeman. "I feel anxious for my children because tomorrow if a mob surrounds them and asks, 'Are you a Hindu or a Muslim?' they will have no answer. It worries me that I don't see the situation improving anytime soon...These matters don't scare me, they make me angry. And I feel every right-thinking man should feel angry, not scared. This is our home, who dare evict us from here?" he said in the interview.
However, after his statements led to much backlash on social media, the actor claimed on Friday that his comments on mob violence were being misconstrued. "What I said earlier was as a worried Indian. I have said this earlier as well. What did I say this time that I am being called a traitor? It is very strange," Shah had said.
"I have to bear criticism. If they have the right to criticise, then I also have the same right. I am expressing concerns about the country I love, the country that is my home. How is that a crime?" he asked.
(With agency inputs)
