Naseeruddin Shah says hate against Muslims has become ‘fashionable’, being ‘cleverly’ tapped into by government

“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?,” Shah told indianexpress.com.

 

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The veteran said the election commission is a mute spectator to politicians using religion to get votes and said there would have been utter devastation if a Muslim leader had asked for votes using “Allahu Akbar”. The hope, Shah said, is that the divisive religion card will one day “wear off” as even Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to use it to his favour— but lost.

“I mean how spineless is the election commission of ours? Who doesn’t even dare utter a word. If there had been a Muslim leader who had said, ‘Allah Hu Akbar bol ke button dabao’, sh*t would have hit the fan.

“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,” he added.

Taj: Reign of Revenge, also starring Aashim Gulati, is currently streaming on ZEE5.