Legendary Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah said that he is worried for children in today’s India. According to a report in India Today, he imagines a situation where his children may be surrounded by an angry mob and asked: “Are you Hindu or Muslim?”
“My children will have no answer,” Shah says, “Because we chose not to give religious education to our children.” Naseeruddin Shah also says that there is a “poison” that has spread in the Indian society. “It will be very difficult to capture this djinn [genie] back into the bottle.”
“There is complete impunity for those who take the law into their own hands,” Naseeruddin says. “We have already witnessed that the death of a cow has more significance than that of a police officer.”
Naseeruddin was referring to the recent Bulandshahr violence in which a police officer was killed by a mob. The violence was sparked by the discovery of cow carcasses.
Ok , koi to hai Bollywood mein jisne sach bola der se he sahi .
Cows are more safe in India than women and all minorities .#NaseeruddinShah pic.twitter.com/zU8ayQDQEn
— ਗੀਤ ਕੌਰ گِیت کور (@kashmiri_kurii) December 20, 2018
The Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested three people in connection with the alleged cow slaughter. The policeman’s killers remain free. Naseeruddin Shah’s comments were put online by Karwan-e-Mohabbat India, a traveling activist collective that is focused on stories of hate crimes and lynching.
