Naseeruddin Shah condemns Indian Muslims celebrating Taliban takeover in Afghanistan
Naseeruddin Shah has lashed out at a section of "Indian Muslims," who are hailing the takeover of Taliban in Afghanistan. Calling them "dangerous," the veteran actor asked a pertinent question as to what those Muslims actually want, "a reformed, modern Islam," or are satisfied living with the barbarism going on across the world in the name of religion. The clip lasted almost a minute.
'My relationship with God is informal, don't need political religion'
Even though the duration wasn't that lengthy, the message given by Shah is deep. Calling himself a proud "Hindustani Musalman," the 71-year-old said the relationship he shares with his Allah is personal, and he doesn't need "a political religion." "I am an Indian Muslim, and as Mirza Ghalib said years ago, my relationship with God is informal," he added in his Urdu clip.
Netizens hailed what Shah said, Vivek Agnihotri tweeted in support
"May God not bring a time when it changes so much that we cannot even recognize it," Shah concluded. As soon as the clip dropped, it went viral, with majority of netizens standing by what the Sarfarosh actor said. The Tashkent Files director Vivek Agnihotri said, "I hope more and more educated and creative Muslims (specially from Bollywood) speak against these enemies of humanity."
Watch the clip here
This comes after the Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy's statement
Shah was probably referring to the office bearers of All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Maulana Umrain Mahfuz Rahmani and Maulana Sajjad Nomani, and the Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind, who reportedly preached secularism under the garb of Taliban takeover. Even the Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) condemned the stand taken by them, saying that "Islamic State" is itself contradictory to what is preached by the religion.
The AIMPLB, facing backlash, clarified that stand later
Almost all the 150 IMSD members comprising academicians, activists and intellectual attested to this statement. The members include journalist Aarefa Johari, filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, designer Amir Rizwi, Javed Jaffrey, Javed and Zoya Akhtar. The AIMPLB, however, had clarified later that "Opinion of some Board members has been portrayed as Board's stand by few media channels and wrong things are being attributed to the Board."
