MUMBAI: Naseeruddin Shah, one of the most highly regarded Bollywood actors, has warned of a civil war in Modi-led India as calls for genocide against Muslims and ethnic cleansing in India continue to create headlines.
“If it comes to the crunch, we will fight back […] If it comes to that, we will. We are defending our homes, our family, our children,” the actor said in an interview with Indian media outlet.
Speaking about members of the Dharam Sansad, who a few days ago in Haridwar called for genocide and ethnic cleansing of Muslims in India, he said, “I wonder if they know what they are talking about? 200 million are going to fight back. We belong here. We were born here and we will live here.”
Shah said it could lead to a “civil war.”
According to reports, between December 17 and 19, a large collection of major religious leaders, right-wing activists, hardline fundamentalist militants and Hindutva organizations came together at Haridwar for an event called the ‘Dharma Sansad’ or ‘Religious Parliament’.
Over the course of three days, this event witnessed an extra-ordinary outpouring of hate speech, mobilizations to violence and anti-Muslim sentiment.
The Bollywood actor was asked “what does it feel like to be a Muslim in Narendra Modi’s India?”. To this, he said, “Muslims are being marginalized and made redundant.”
He said Muslims were in the process of being reduced to second-class citizens and that was happening in every field.
He told the interviewer that “a concerted attempt is being made to make Muslims insecure”.
He said, “It’s an attempt to make us scared.” However, he added, “We should not be scared.”
“An attempt is being made to spread a phobia among Muslims”, but “we must not admit this is frightening us.”
To a question, Shah said he did not feel insecure because that was his home but he was concerned about the future of his children.
Talking about Prime Minister Modi’s total silence after the bloodcurdling calls for genocide and ethnic cleansing, Naseeruddin Shah said “he doesn’t care” adding that “at least you cannot accuse him of being a hypocrite”.
Naseeruddin Shah said not only is there no chastisement of the people who threatened genocide “but the Prime Minister follows them on Twitter”.
He said: “Our leader keeps silent but claims to care for everybody”. “He’ll parade his own religious beliefs yet issue dog-whistles against Muslims.”
“It cannot be written about and described. Very few – if any – Bollywood stars of Naseeruddin Shah’s stature have spoken out the way he has. That alone makes it a rare and special interview.”
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