New Delhi: Veteran actor-activist Shabana Azmi is under fire from members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for voicing what they claim to be “anti-national” opinions.
Earlier this week, Union minister Giriraj Singh took to Twitter to call Azmi the “new leader of the tukde tukde and award wapsi” gang.
शबाना आजमी टुकड़े-टुकड़े गैंग और अवार्ड वापसी गैंग की नई नेता है। pic.twitter.com/reCXGRSZgc
— Shandilya Giriraj Singh (@girirajsinghbjp) July 7, 2019
Singh’s tweet was accompanied by a news clip of BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain criticising Azmi for remarks made by the actor during an event in Indore Saturday, where she was quoted as saying: “It is always necessary that we point out flaws for the betterment of our country… If we do not, how will we bring improvement? But an atmosphere is building in which if we criticise the government, we are called anti-nationals. We should not be afraid, nobody needs their certificate.”
Azmi didn’t name any particular political party, but members of the BJP took offence. In the Aaj Tak clip shared by Singh, Hussain is heard saying, “Is desh ko criticise karenge, is nation ko criticise karenge, toh janta ke mann mein ek sawal paida hota hai (the public will raise questions when someone criticises the nation).”
“Anti-national woh hota hai, joh desh ke khilaaf hota hai, humari party ko toh kya-kya nahi kaha gaya (anti-national is one who is against the nation. Our party has been called a lot of names),” he added.
Azmi lashes out
Azmi, who is no stranger to controversy, also took to social media Tuesday morning to register her defence.
She started with a well-known quote from Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, which stresses the importance of freedom of speech.
Bol ke lab Aazaad hain tere Bol zabaan ab tak teri hai… Bol ke sach zinda hai ab tak Bol jo kuch kehna hai keh ley
— Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) July 8, 2019
Then, she listed a series of instances from the past three decades where she has raised her voice against the government, to emphasise that her activism wasn’t directed at any one party.
On 10 January 1989, Azmi interrupted the 12th International Film Festival of India in New Delhi to read out a statement holding the Congress accountable for the murder of noted playwright and theatre personality Safdar Hashmi 10 days before. Hashmi was killed in an assault by a Congress-backed candidate ahead of a civic election in Ghaziabad.
In October 2001, she took on the Imam of Jama Masjid, Delhi, on live television, during a debate on ‘jihad’ on NDTV’s We the People programme. Bukhari had then called Azmi a “naachnewali (nautch girl)”, sparking outrage in both houses of Parliament. A Rajya Sabha MP at the time, Azmi responded by saying, “My identity is that I am a woman first, followed by an actress and a Parliament member. For me, religion is a part of my life and not vice versa.”
4 d record in Safdar Hashmi murder I took on HKL Bhagat of Congress publicly.I challenged Imam Bukhari on national TV 4 which he called me a naachnewali n was condemned by both Houses of Parliament.Hve spoken against triple talaq n halala repeatedly so who is selective ?
— Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) July 8, 2019
Azmi also noted that she had publicly opposed triple talaq and nikah halala, and that her father, the legendary poet Kaifi Azmi, had returned his Padma Shri in protest against former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Vir Bahadur Singh’s derogatory remarks about Urdu speakers. Singh was a Congress leader.
Who gets to be critical?
Azmi isn’t the only Muslim celebrity who has come under fire for speaking against alleged intolerance under the Modi government.
After Naseeruddin Shah expressed worry for his children in today’s India last December, the actor became a target for a slew of trolls on social media. A mob subsequently descended upon the venue of the Ajmer Literature Festival, which he was to inaugurate, seeking an apology, causing Shah to stay away. Actor Aamir Khan was also widely trolled for expressing similar worries.
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