As the farmers conducted their ‘chakka jams’ or road blockage protest on Saturday, an interview of Hindi film actor Naseeruddin Shah commenting on the farmers’ protest went viral on Twitter.
The Ishqiya actor, in an interview released in January spoke about many people in the film industry are silent because they are scared that they will lose something if they voice their support for the ongoing protest. This gained stride online.
Speaking to Karwan-E-Mohabbat, Shah called out the film fraternity for being silent on the issue.
He said, “If farmers are sitting in the biting cold to protest, we cannot turn a blind eye to them.” He went on to state that he believes that their protest will gain momentum and ordinary citizens will also take part in it.
“You have saved enough for the next seven generations. How much will you lose?” he added while talking about the film industry.
People appreciated his supportive stance on the ongoing protests.
Naseeruddin Shah ❤️#FarmersProstest #westandwithfarmers pic.twitter.com/JxKP6AtaKK
— vipul parihar (@vipul_parihar) February 5, 2021
Shah’s comments on the industry’s silence have become relevant as many of his contemporaries have drawn flak for their recent tweets on the farmers’ agitation. Reacting to international celebrities and activists’ tweets on the issue, Indian actors such as Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, and Ajay Devgn and sports personalities like PT Usha, Saina Nehwal, and Sachin Tendulkar tweeted that they hope for an amicable resolution and that India should not fall for false propaganda.
Several celebrities shared the Ministry of External Affair’s notice using the hashtags #IndiaAgainstPropaganda and #IndiaTogether.
This caused a massive stir during the protest and online on platforms like Twitter. Polarised opinions were shared by the likes of celebrities like Kangana Ranaut while actors Taapsee Pannu, Sushant Singh, and sportsmen like Somdev Devvarman criticised these tweets.
At least be original
🙄
— Somdev Devvarman (@SomdevD) February 4, 2021
Despite the several perspectives online, farmers continued their agitation near the borders of Delhi on Saturday.
