Hate Towards Muslims is now ‘fashionable’, cleverly tapped by govt
Shah expressed his concern over the rising anti-Muslim sentiment in India, saying that it had “come into fashion” to hate Muslims.
Shah spoke with The Indian Express about the pervasive rise of Islamophobia, highlighting the potentially deadly effects it could have on a multiethnic nation like India.
Additionally, he emphasized how politicians use this propaganda to sway voters in elections.
Shah expressed his concern when asked about the unsettling use of some films and television shows as propagandist tools.
He said: “Oh, sure, these are worrying times absolutely. The kind of stuff that’s pure, undisguised propaganda is being lapped up and it’s a reflection of the zeitgeist of the times. Muslim hating is fashionable these days, even among educated people. It’s what the ruling party has very cleverly tapped into this nerve. We talk about secular this, democracy that, so why are you introducing religion into everything?”
Naseeruddin Shah
Shah emphasised that the BJP, the current government’s party, has successfully tapped into this passion by fusing religion with its political agenda.
He questioned the election commission’s lack of guts in dealing with the problem and criticised them for it.
Shah emphasised that there would have been a huge uproar if a Muslim leader had said something like, “Press the button while saying ‘Allah Hu Akbar’.”
He added: “But here our prime minister goes ahead and says things like this and yet he loses. So, I have hope that this will wear off. But it’s definitely, at the moment, at its peak. It’s been a very clever card played by this government, and it has worked. Let’s see how long it continues to work.”
Shah’s criticism of the Indian government is not a recent occurrence.
He expressed his displeasure at the government’s recent preference for promoting films like The Kashmir Files over the safety and rehabilitation of Hindus in Kashmir.
In a different interview, he discussed how the government was pressuring Bollywood to make more films that supported the status quo and called it a “jingoistic agenda.”
