American Indian comic virtuoso and political commentator Hasan Minhaj has made some scathing comments against PM Narendra Modi regarding the controversial Citizen Amendments Act.
In a recent episode of his Netflix news based show Patriotic Act, Minhaj is heard spitting venom against the BJP.
He says, “The other country that has made serious authoritarian moves is India. Since our last update, Prime Minister Modi has gone mask off on Muslims. In August, he revoked the special status of the formerly autonomous Muslim majority state of Kashmir. He moved in thousands of troops and cut off the region’s internet access. Most Kashmiris still don’t have internet…..For Modi, messing with Kashmiri Muslims was just the start. He effectively stripped two million people of their citizenship, most of them Muslim. And now, his party passed a law to fast-track citizenship for migrants, except Muslims. Do you realise how crazy this is?” Minhaj says in the episode.”
While the statements. an unbelievable of political ignorance and cockiness (“messing with Kashmiri Muslims” is hardly the language of a mature commentator), Minhaj’s rant can be dismissed as an attention-seeking gimmick.
However. Indian celebrities out West are being put in a tight spot by the Western media, being made answerable for the Indian government’s new policy/law regarding migrants.
A prominent Bollywood cinema performer who spends a lot of time shooting abroad told me, “I am avoiding the media here (in the US) because the minute you step into that zone you are basically negotiating a landmine with bombs planted on it. They want to corner you, make you say things you will regret later. It’s a tightrope walk I want to avoid.”
Actors in India aren’t finding it easier to dodge CAA-related questions. Salman Khan while promoting Dabangg 3 and Akshay Kumar for Good Newszz have found themselves in very uncomfortable situations vis-à-vis the Indian media. When Rajinikanth while promoting his latest film Darbar was asked about the student unrest he gently reminded the questioning journalist that the platform promoting a film was not the proper place for such questions.
Diljit Dosanjh has turned out to be the smartest dodger of political questions. Whenever he’s asked a question he doesn’t want to answer he gives a didn’t-understand blank look.