Last updated:
Naseeruddin Shah played an important role in IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Krishna Hegde said the actor has a penchant for making controversial statements many times which cast doubt in the minds of people.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena have sparred with actor Naseeruddin Shah over his comments that he feared a ‘wave of Islamophobia’ during the 1999 Kandahar IC814 hijacking with more than 200 people on board.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Krishna Hegde said the actor has a penchant for making controversial statements many times which cast doubt in the minds of people.
“Surprisingly Naseeruddin Shah did not talk about the safety and lives of the 200 passengers on IC 814 hijacked to Kandahar but about Islamophobia after living in India for 74 years and living among the rich and famous. He has a penchant for making controversial statements many times , these different statements have created doubts in the minds of the community,” he said.
Maharashtra Culture and Forest Minister and BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar on Wednesday said that it doesn’t matter what Shah says, the important thing is that cinema should portray a clear and honest picture. He said that it is necessary to pay attention to who is a terrorist.
While referring to the demolition of illegal buildings built on government land around the tomb of Afzal Khan, a 17th-century general of the Adil Shahi dynasty of the Bijapur kingdom in 2022 and the burning of Ravana effigies every year, Mungantiwar said the BJP does not discriminate against people or evil. based on religion unlike others.
“We don’t look at everything according to religion, but who committed the crime, that’s what we have to look at,” he said.
He is also an arbiter of freedom of speech and expression and says that some people over the years have exercised their constitutional right to share things that hurt the sentiments of a larger group. But when these things went against them, they cried out for mercy and appealed to the constitution.
What did Naseeruddin Shah say?
Shah has claimed that he was left ‘disturbed’ after the Kandahar IC814 Hijacking in 1999. On Tuesday, the actor was speaking at a press conference for the recently released show when he recalled fearing a ‘wave of Islamophobia’ after the horrific incident that took place in 1999. The veteran actor stated that he was ‘very concerned’ and added that it left him feeling uneasy for a long time.
“I was about 50 when this happened, at the end of the previous century. I remember being very disturbed because I was afraid that it would provoke another wave of Islamophobia. Fortunately, at that time it was not. I remember feeling very concerned about the situation and what it would lead to. I was left with a feeling of discomfort. I can’t tell why I feel this, but I feel that the passengers and the pilot have a terrible time. I remember feeling this,” said Naseeruddin.
WHAT CONTROVERSY?
IC-814 The Kandahar Hijacking, featuring Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Dia Mirza, Arvind Swamy and Dia Mirza has been well received by critics. However, a section of social media users called for a boycott of the series as it allegedly concealed the real identity of the terrorists involved in the 1999 incident.
In the series, the terrorists are named Bhola, Shankar, Doctor, Burger and Chief. The series appears to suggest that terrorists have code names. However, the hijackers were Muslims from Pakistan. This has irked many, which has been called “whitewashing”.
After the backlash, Netflix agreed to update the disclaimer of the series and mention the real name of the hijacker. The decision was made after Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) officials met with Netflix representatives over allegations of falsification of facts in the new series.
