New Delhi: Manohar Lal Khattar’s BJP-led government in Haryana is learnt to have removed actor Parineeti Chopra as the brand ambassador of its ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign.
Chopra had criticised police action against Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University students, who were protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act last Sunday.
“If this is what’s gonna happen everytime a citizen expresses their view, forget #CAB, we should pass a bill and not call our country a democracy anymore! Beating up innocent human beings for speaking their mind? BARBARIC,” she posted Tuesday.
If this is what’s gonna happen everytime a citizen expresses their view, forget #CAB, we should pass a bill and not call our country a democracy anymore! Beating up innocent human beings for speaking their mind? BARBARIC.
— Parineeti Chopra (@ParineetiChopra) December 17, 2019
Government officials are silent on allegations that this comment is the reason Chopra has been dropped from the campaign, but a report in Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran quoted project director Yogendra Malik as confirming that she is no longer part of it. Malik, however, said he could not tell when the actor was removed.
Chopra, who is from Haryana’s Ambala, had become the brand ambassador of the Khattar government’s ambitious campaign in 2015.
Few film personalities have spoken out
Chopra is among the few film and television personalities to speak out against the police action on students.
Earlier, actor Sushant Singh said he was dropped from Savdhaan India, a crime show with which he had been associated since 2012, after participating in a protest against the citizenship law.
And, my stint with Savdhaan India has ended.
— सुशांत सिंह sushant singh سوشانت سنگھ (@sushant_says) December 16, 2019
“I went for the protest and then, at night, I got the message that this will be my last day of shoot. Maybe it is a coincidence, maybe this was planned. I don’t want to speculate,” Singh told news agency PTI.
The widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act have taken India by storm. Netizens have been calling out people from the film and sports fraternities for their silence on the issue.
While many of these celebrities have openly registered their protest, some have given neutral statements condemning the violence from both sides.
Haryana Congress leaders have condemned the state government’s move.
Rajya Sabha MP and Haryana Congress president Kumari Selja tweeted, “With such low level tactics, the BJP can’t suppress the voice of our daughters.”
बेटी बचाओ बेटी पढ़ाओ का नारा देने वाली भाजपा सरकार पर सत्ता का घमंड इस कदर चढ़ा हुआ है कि वह सच सुनने को कतई तैयार नहीं है।
ऐसी ओछी हरकतें कर भाजपा हमारी बेटियों की आवाज को दबा नहीं सकती। pic.twitter.com/BDkm7azxr6
— Kumari Selja (@kumari_selja) December 19, 2019
“You can’t suppress Haryana’s daughters’ voice by removing her from brand ambassador,” senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted.
खट्टर साहब हरियाणा की बेटियां पढ़ी लिखी भी हैं, समझदार भी और अपने विचार व्यक्त करने का साहस रखने वाली भी।
उन्हें ब्रांड ऐम्बैसडर से हटा कर और बोखला कर आप उनकी आवाज़ नही दबा सकते।
और जजपा चुप क्यों है?
कितनों की आवाज दबाओगे और आखिर कब तक?https://t.co/Wah61i4Gue
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) December 19, 2019
Also read: Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Pednekar— actors in selfie with PM Modi speak up over Jamia protests
Fake news hai chitiyon. She was ambassador only till 2017. Her contact was never renewed.
Didn’t her contract end in 2017