Recently, a clip from Naseeruddin Shah’s interview with Jameel Gulrays talking about the farmers’ protests went viral.
The veteran actor could be seen questioning the film industry’s silence over the protests and calling out Bollywood Bigwigs.
The actor was of the opinion that staying silent meant showing complicity with the suppresor – “In the end, you will not hear the words of your enemies but the silence of your friends. To say that it is not a matter of personal concern would not be right at all. If our farmers are sitting on protest in the bitter cold we cannot turn a blind eye to them. I am sure that the farmer protest will gain momentum and everyone will join in. This will definitely happen. Being silent is tantamount to supporting an oppressor. I believe this.”
He further addressed the industry biggies, asking what did they have to lose by speaking up – “The towering personalities of our film industry are extremely silent over all this. They believe that they may lose something if they speak up. When you have earned enough to provide for seven generations, How much will you lose?”
A few days back, the farmers’ protests received global attention after international icons like Rihanna and Greta Thunberg commented on the matter.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had then immediately issued a statement slamming foreign celebrities for commenting on the ongoing protests. Bollywood biggies like Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Karan Johar had then shared the Centre stance on the issue – tweeting #IndiaAgainstPropaganda.